By Definition
by enajharas90
Summary: Everybody else agrees that this is how it should be. But some things just couldn't be based on normalcy or even humor, especially if they begin evolving from one stage to the other. Jade/Tori. Don't like? Don't read.
1. Part 1: Jade Ignitions with a Touch

**A/N:** This fic will be divided into five parts. That's if I manage the planned five, but I really should because it's not going to go too well if I don't. I know, I know, I have another fic to finish, but if I don't start this yet, I'd die! Seriously, it's bugging my head every night.

**Pairing: Jade/Tori. If you don't like the idea, for heaven's sake, scram.**

Oh and by the way, **THIS IS IMPORTANT! Each part (not chapter)** will be inspired by one of my fave Dishwalla songs. The first part will be under, "Every Little Thing". So, if you want to get an extra vibe to the heart while reading this story, I suggest you listen to the suggested song first.

Enough talking, I don't own Victorious, but I wish I could be part of its crew in any way – I can be a janitor for all I care. Okay, shutting up now.

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**Every Little Thing**

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_Jade Ignitions with a Touch_

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Maybe. Just maybe. Relationships shared by two people are built around certain agreements. These set of agreements will now be their area of normalcy – that one context that only they could understand.

Yeah. Maybe this is the reason why one Jade West and one Tori Vega never seem to self-destruct even with the kind of hazardous relation they have with each other.

Their "friendship" – if it could even be called one – is like dynamite that has been set off. One day, it will definitely blow. Well, at least that's what everyone around them thought until they realized that it's been over months but no booms or even sparks went off. Either the wick of that dynamite they lit was ridiculously long or the spark was just stuck somewhere along the rope.

It's really an odd relationship. The spark either strengthens one day or would almost seem non-existent at times but "there" nonetheless.

Just like today; during Improv class.

Jade, who was sitting further behind the class, was flicking paper balls on Tori's head. The ever-nice-and-dandy Victoria Vega, on the other hand, behaved like Jade's behavior was too normal to acknowledge or just something she enjoys receiving.

Okay. Scratch the last clause. Maybe she was just looking for a better time to react.

As soon as Sikowitz turns around, the same Victoria Vega, referred to earlier, turns around, slowly and gives Jade a look that had "it's-too-early-in-the-morning" on a pony and riding through a rainbow that led to the paler girl's direction.

Jade's pierced eyebrow raised and her lips broke into a devious smile, crumbling the half Latina's pony-through-a-rainbow messenger just like that.

This was their agreement. This was their context of what's normal – their point of connection.

Almost everyone around them was beginning to think the same but in actuality, no one ever did exert the effort to discover why this 'agreement' never corroded nor 'leveled-up'.

Tori's gaze remained as if trying to send another pony messenger – well – until Jade mouthed a very sarcastic and almost poisonous 'Good Morning'. Wherever, that pony messenger was, it probably peed itself now and doesn't intend to go back.

Tori's eyebrows shot up, maintaining a "lazed" expression.

This moment right here is the "but" in the equation. It is quite a valid explanation if one tried to think about it. It almost seemed as if Jade loved getting reactions from Tori; without any sort of response from the tanner girl, the scissor lover's day would never be complete. Perhaps, she liked the "customization" of these reactions. Yes. They were made just for her.

This is their agreement "with perspective", with deeper thought.

Tori sighed and returned her attention toward Sikowitz's psychotic persona, which, by the way, started babbling about the ringing in his head.

This is the delineation of their 'agreement' precisely.

Tori's sigh brought an even brighter smile on Jade's Face. It was a reassurance that she pretty much still had the same effect on the youngest Vega.

Given that all the above presumptions were true, Jade apparently loves the "agreement" the way it is.

To that, Jade West, flicked her inch and a half-wide eraser to the back of Tori's head.

/

/

/

'So, has anyone noticed that Cat is really just – I don't know – touchy?'

None of the four people seated on their usual lunch table acknowledged the ventriloquist's question; Beck and Jade concentrated on their food, Andre was mumbling something about Captain Obvious, while Tori chewed on but was still nice enough to look at Robbie.

Really. It was a stupid question. All of them were already aware how Cat was touchy. The girl was love and sweetness all bundled up and was gaining even more lovingness and sweetness everyday that it oozed.

'Just how dense are you, man?' Rex groaned.

'Or maybe, he just experienced touchiness,' Tori immediately said to make Robbie feel better, because this is Tori. She was just too nice, while Cat was walking sugar, she was sunshine.

'Yeah, keep lying, Vega,' and, this girl right here, was the cloud of acid rain.

'Not nice, Jade,' Tori said with a sigh.

'Was I ever?' Jade retorted, not looking at Tori as if her existence only mattered during pranks and Jade-initiated insults.

Beck groans at this. It never really made him comfortable how Jade and Tori shared this 'dynamite'. It's just something he lived with ever since Tori transferred from Sherwood. To him, the relationship of the two girls was like a rash during a heat wave and a mosquito bite on a rainy day.

'Hey guys!' and came the walking epitome of cuteness. Seriously, if love and sweetness ever was something tangible and could actually be taken in by the body at an hourly basis, Cat already had diabetes and hypertension the day she was born.

'Hey!' everybody else except for Jade greeted back.

'Guess what I've got for everyone!' she bit her lower lip and shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she anticipated a response.

'What?' Tori said as if to represent the group upon noticing that no one intended to say a word. We can't blame them really. They were munching.

'You see,' she began, finally propping herself beside Tori and playfully played with the youngest Vega's shirt sleeve as she spoke. Robbie, and surprisingly Jade, noticed this gesture. 'I paid my grandparents a visit and they gave me money to celebrate Christmas 'cause they think it's Christmas already. So, I got free tickets to the Cuddle Fish LA concert instead.'

'Wow, that's tonight! How many did you get?'

'Enough for everyone,' Cat beamed. 'We could even take Trina!'

Tori's smile immediately faded. 'Let's sell that one.'

The rest of the gang seconded this comment.

'Yay!' Cat followed through with a fit of giggles and decided she needed to direct the rest of her excitement to Tori's shoulder since it was the closest. She then buries her head in it and muffled her remaining giggles there.

The others found it cute, save for Jade who suddenly felt the need to insult Tori to get her attention. However, the cholesterol of the burrito she was eating must have clogged certain sections of her system that she couldn't come up with a snide remark. She raises her hand and lands it hard on the table, shocking everyone and successfully ripping Cat's hold off of Tori.

'What's wrong, girl?' Andre said, bordering between annoyed and afraid, but since that's Jade, the "annoyed" part of his brain told him it had a service call and just shut down.

'Fly,' Jade flatly responds and leans back where she sits, pretending to return her attention to her food.

'Poor fly,' Cat says with a pout.

'I don't see a fly,' Beck inspects the part of the table that was abused by his girlfriend.

'Don't push it,' Jade snaps. Beck shrugs his shoulders in defeat.

'Poor table,' Rex mumbles.

And that was when the ketchup sitting at the center of the table was emptied.

/

/

/

'Geez,' Robbie couldn't get over the fact that he had to wear Tori's extra shirt that she insisted was bigger than her other shirts. She stored that shirt in her locker for emergency situations – situations like ketchup drenched shirts.

Tori was biting her lower lip to keep herself from bursting into a fit of insensitive laughter upon seeing Robbie exit the restrooms and walk up to her.

'It's not funny, Tori.'

Tori refused to answer. One quiver of her lip can destroy that crack of feigned seriousness she was forcing.

'So are we really going to the concert while I'm looking like this?'

'Pretty much,' Tori says as she retrieved her books from her locker and began stuffing them in her bag. 'Cat and I are hitching Andre's ride, so you're going to be taking Beck's.'

'Geez! Why can't you instead? I don't want to be in the same tight space for more than twenty minutes with Jade while I'm in this!'

'She might ignore you if you duct tape Rex's mouth.'

'Hey,' Andre says, emerging from the hall across the water fountain. 'Is everybody here?'

'Nope, Cat and the lovers aren't here yet,' Robbie answers, almost hiding behind Tori.

'Whoa, Robbie-' even before Andre could finish his declaration of disgust, Cat arrived with an equally confused expression as her usually skippy attention was hogged by Tori's shirt on Robbie.

'Did you shrink you shirt, Robbie?' she asks innocently, cutting Andre off.

Really. That wasn't the point, but Robbie was equally degraded.

'Great, now here comes Jade. If you guys find this weird, _she_ will definitely not drop this,' Robbie folded his arms, attempting to hide the obviously tight and girly shirt that squeezed his torso.

Jade seemed nonchalant about it as she got down the stairs and nearly got past the group.

'What hideous taste you have, Vega,' she said, referring to the shirt Robbie was wearing.

'Sweet as ever, _West_,' Tori said with a smile so sweet it was already sarcastic in Jade's perspective.

Jade smiles at this and proceeds to her own locker, which was across Tori's.

'Weird how she picked on you instead of me,' the ventriloquist observes, arms still folded before him.

'Yeah, not really.'

'Actually,' Andre began, 'it was weird, considering the fact that the shirt was on Robbie.'

'Well. Come to think of it, she's actually meaner today,' Tori adds, 'to me. Maybe I did something. I guess I'll just ask her later.'

'Yeah, like she talks to you just like that? Has to be something she benefits in.'

'I'll start with my shirt. She can insult me, then I'll ask her.' Tori was always sunshine and energy, she wasn't perfect though. There were moments that she could actually be scarier than Jade, but when it came to the daughter of the West household, she tucks her temper in. Perhaps, this was still about her trying to win the other girl's approval even if she's done it many times. The thing is she finds Jade's approval similar to a hearth; it has to be fed. 'Is that _benefit_ enough?'

'Maybe,' Andre looks over his shoulder, looking at Jade who was flipping through one of her black-painted textbook's pages. 'Considering it's you she's going to be insulting, that should be benefit enough.'

'Well!' Tori turns towards Jade's direction to notice her actually looking her way. The other girl immediately pretended to look somewhere else.

/

/

/

Trina Vega is not very sure if everyone already knew by now that her sister's right eye usually twitches when she was about to transform into the little demon she can be or when she was holding back – either way, just start looking for a shield if you see the twitch.

The older Vega daughter saw that dreaded _eye movement_ when she reveals that Cat DID sell the extra ticket – but to none other than her. The redhead had to use the money to buy everyone beverages to calm them down. Well. Not really, she didn't realize she calmed them down with that gesture.

As a result of the whole Trina mix-up, Tori wasn't very focused on the performance; she was constantly looking over the shoulder of the girl standing next to her – which was Jade by the way. Naturally, Beck would be beside her, so Trina was about two people away from her.

Trina was constantly jumping up and down even if the beat of the song died down to a mellow three-fourths. This, without doubt, should be the reason a goth (not Jade) was throwing "ganks" and "wazz" cusses over at the hyperactive Vega. Tori already noticed about a couple of minutes ago and tried to warn her sister, who was too entranced by the act on stage.

Grunting, Tori pushes behind Jade and approaches her sister. But before she could get to Trina, instead of another "gank" or a "wazz", a cup of soda went flying to her back, soaking the rest of her shirt.

Good thing Robbie wasn't looking. Karma does work fast.

She may not appear so, but Trina cares for Tori. She fumbles for a handkerchief in her bag and began dabbing on the wet area of her sister's shirt upon getting one. That is, after she screams at whoever threw the cup.

'Man, what happened?' Andre, who was beside Trina, tried to help but the now frantic older sister wouldn't let him touch Tori.

'Ugh, just one of the many people who wanted Trina to bump down.'

'Hey! That's not nice!' Trina retorts. 'Geez, you have got to get out of this top. It's all drippy.'

'-and sticky,' Tori adds.

'I would lend you my shirt but that would leave me in a bra,' Trina ponders over her choices, but Andre helps her decide against this proposition by groaning in disgust.

Ever sensitive Beck notices the predicament and looks at his girlfriend who wore a dark flannel over her tank top. 'You can borrow one of Jade's tops.'

Jade looked, disgusted, at Beck, 'Last time I checked it's my decision since I'm wearing to the garments you referred to as "Jade's Tops".'

'I'll lend you my top!' Cat squeals happily. Everybody turns to her and notices she was wearing just a tank top. They turn her down as nicely as they could and the spotlight now returned to Jade.

'Ugh, klutzy, Vega.'

'Hey, Cat was actually being nice!' Robbie commented, which got him Andre's hand to his nape. 'Kidding.'

/

/

/

'Okay, take it off, Vega and turn around,' Jade said rather quickly that Tori "take it off" was the only set of words that registered in the tanner girl's head. They ended up in one those dirty cubicles in filthy concert hall bathrooms.

Tori looked at her weirdly – like she was an object of rape that was to ensue.

Jade returns the look. Realizing what Tori might have been thinking, she narrows her eyes at the half Latina.

'_Really_? Do you think so?' she sarcastically snaps.

'I wouldn't know, really.'

Tori hesitantly turns around and so does Jade as they both remove their tops. Tori was still wiping herself off, when Jade turns back around, red flannel shirt in hand.

She quickly turns away. However, ever so slowly, she turns back around and noticed that spot below Tori's shoulder, where Cat buried her giggly face in earlier. The girl before her was practically flawless. Being the little practically fearless rebel that she is, she raises her hand and softly – very softly – runs a painted nail on the spot on Tori's back that she was observing.

She noticed Tori stiffen for a second, but relax again, as if taking the awkward contact as a cue to turn around and take the shirt from Jade's other hand.

'Thanks,' she smiles. Jade doesn't respond.

Both girls turn away from each other to allow Tori to finish changing. Unknown to the other, they both gulp down an unfamiliar lump down their throats.

Maybe agreements do change after all. They just didn't think that the smallest of gestures could be the push for that change.

'That's a good spot for a tattoo.' Tori rubbed on the area Jade grazed – or maybe even tickled – with her nail, acknowledging Jade's last comment.

While Jade never figured she could say something to Tori that did not benefit her, Tori, on the other hand, didn't think her eye could twitch over things other than her keeping her temper in check.

/

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/

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><p><strong>AN:** Well. That's about it guys. I'll make one thing clear though.** THE CHAPTERS I WRITE WILL BE UNDER THE FIVE PARTS** I was referring to.

The reason I'm dividing this story in five parts (again, if I could keep that plan) is because I'm still exploring this pairing. I prefer them subtle. But again, after more observations and research periods in each Victorious episode I make, their characters' might not allow me to stick to the ever subtleness that I prefer. So, subtlety will last maybe for parts 1 through 2. Then, I'll see what I can do with parts 3 to 5.

This should also give readers a choice. If you prefer subtlety, you can stop at part 1. **But I'd love you soooo much if you go all the way – and if you leave me an inspiring review.**

**THANK YOU!**

(btw, does anybody else besides me thinks that Avan and Jake Gylenhall are so alike?)


	2. Part 1: Tori is Stressed

**A/N: So, here it is. The chapter is obviously still under Part I. :) :) :)  
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**Uh. Right. Almost forgot. I don't own Victorious.**

**I hope you enjoy!  
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><p><strong>I<strong>

**Every Little Thing**

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_Tori is Stressed_

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In our everyday lives, we concur with assumptions; from waking up to hitting the showers and from eating breakfast to attending a crazy teacher's class. Point is…the very basic things we do are involved in if not invoked by assumptions.

It can be said that assumptions have saved millions of people and, to this day and very minute, it continues to. Really. Take this for an example, before you walk across the two-way street keeping your apartment building and a convenience store apart, you will most definitely look both ways first...and then cross.

_But._

However assumptions save people, it should be kept in mind that it is equally important that an adequate amount of analysis should be put into it, because, at times, the very basic of assumptions may become the source of your dignity's downfall. Well. Putting "dignity" and "downfall" in a single sentence is a little too much but, yes, this can happen.

Take Cat for example. As soon as the bell rings, Cat Valentine bids – or giggles, rather – goodbyes at everybody. She then giggles a little more, skips out of the door and just when everybody in the classroom assumes that she would be skipping her way through the hall, she doesn't. She pauses by the door, looks both ways…and crosses.

Now, imagine that very scene with a different character in Cat's stead, it's not as cute – like how Robbie Shapiro did exactly the same thing that the redhead did purely out of confusion.

Other times though, assumptions can be a little constraining. Well it depends on the dosage of assumptions made; assuming lots of things and a little too much of "these said things" at the same time can drive people towards acute paranoia.

The perfect example would be Tori Vega and Jade West.

None of these girls are stupid (not saying Cat is. She's just ditzy and undeniably lovable.). Thus, almost at perfectly the same time, they would assume that something is definitely "off" in their comparative-to-an-explosive relationship.

Tori drums her fingers a few times on her desk before making just about the eighth glance over her shoulder, towards the row that had Jade in it.

Jade West, on the other hand, appeared to be less bothered – that is, unless her notebook was raided and all the doodles of tattoo designs she imagined on the half Latina's shoulder blade wouldn't be exposed.

'Are you okay, Babe?'

And that's Beck Oliver, just another regular person making regular assumptions that his girlfriend is bothered by something due to her lack of interaction with him.

'Yeah.'

'Andre and I will be working on a song for my other class. I'll be going now. You coming?'

Almost as if to see if she had freezed-out, he places a hand on her shoulder. She shakes her head casually. He mumbles a soft okay, kisses her temple and leaves.

Right after the last student leaves the classroom, Tori decides that, despite whatever was "off", she needed to return the other girl's shirt anyway. She had washed it herself.

Finally standing up, she turns to see Jade spacing out, head tilted towards the floor.

With the absence of naivety at pretty significant levels, both girls were actually struggling to settle for the much safer assumption – Jade West was just Jade West; she can do anything without putting any meaning to it.

Tori lets out one final sigh and walks over to Jade. She hadn't even gotten to a full stop in front of the paler girl when this said girl looks up and hisses.

'_What?'_

And so enters the much more logical assumption – Jade West also happens to hate Tori Vega. Thus, spending time involving Tori is almost comparable to her life "slipping away" – that's IF the paler teenager doesn't benefit from the said involvement.

Suddenly feeling ridiculous, Tori almost hits her forehead with her PearBook but she doesn't. She shakes her head with an unsurprised yet faintly disappointed look in her face. Pulling out the shirt, which she even stuffed in a transparent plastic bag, she hands it over to Jade, whose expression softened yet still indicated annoyance.

'Thanks,' Tori offers a smile, which was, of course, wasn't returned but was given a barely audible "meh" and a shrug of a shoulder.

'Well?' Jade noticed how Tori still stood there, still smiling too.

'Let's go?'

Some actions, apparently, are based on returning assumptions. Assumptions that only re-arise over the ones that were thought to make much more sense over the other. In this case, Tori assuming that Jade didn't plan on letting anything change.

Jade finally sighs but not out of annoyance, almost as if out of defeat. She decided that, after getting her shirt back, Tori at least deserved someone to walk towards the usual lunch table with. With that, she picks up her bag and only looks into the other girl's eyes for a second before showing that she takes up the offer by nodding.

While Jade West was Jade West, Tori Vega was Tori Vega too. She can be very, very nice and confused and tangled with all the assumptions that uncontrollably pop-up. She suddenly thinks how – perhaps – sixteen or not, her awfully transparent emotions just beat her brain when it came to her actions. _Impulsive_ is what she was and in understanding the current situation, this trait just isn't helping.

/

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'You mean you actually took Advanced Script Writing?'

Tori sets the ridiculously thick stack of paper on the part of the table before her and looks at Robbie quizzically, giving off her question before she even asked.

'Yeah? Should I be worried?'

'Jade, Beck and Cat got that class last year and they weren't too happy with the whole thing,' Robbie slows down as he reached the end of his sentence, realizing what might have led Tori to take Advanced Script Writing. 'Who the fudge punk'd you into taking that class?'

'Punk'd? You mean _suggested_. Jade was all nice and—' Tori stops mid-sentence, looks from the stack of homework in front of her and to Jade who was smiling a very _Jadey_ smile. 'Oh, right. Thanks a lot, Jade! Real mature!'

'You're always welcome,' she widens the smile before returning her attention to her food.

'You know what that class is like, Jade,' Robbie began, 'it may be open to non-seniors but it's highly discouraged to take that class!'

'I know,' Jade responds flatly.

'I avoided that class all year last year until this very minute!'

'I know.'

'Tori will be having a hard time with that class!'

'She _knows_,' Tori interrupts. She pushes the plastic tray of her supposed lunch to the center of the table and began skimming through her homework with a furrowed brow.

Jade wanted to take pleasure with the youngest Vega's predicament; it was her doing after all. To her misfortune though, she couldn't get herself to. She loved getting on her nerves but seeing her rather bothered was different. If this had taken place during the first day she met Tori, she might have actually enjoyed it.

Robbie sighed in concern and scooted closer to Tori. 'Here, let me help you.'

It was Jade's turn to furrow a brow. She knew something in her clockwork didn't feel like it spun correctly but she persisted and shrugs it off. _Normal_ is what would make her happy so _normal_ is how things should be.

'Hey, guys!' came the cheery voice of Cat as she skipped towards the vacant seat beside Tori. Her eyes widened with excitement upon noticing the contents of the page Robbie and Tori were working on. 'Oh, wow! Advanced Script Writing!'

Tori give Robbie a bitter look, 'I thought you said _they_ – including Cat – didn't like this?'

'Well, that's Cat; one moment she likes something and then the next, she wouldn't.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' Cat, now looking worried, asks.

'He meant you're awesome for surviving this class and managing that _smile_,' Tori says, putting a little emphasis on "smile" and darting an accusing glare at Jade, who only stares back at her with an expression that nearly broke into a mischievous smile again.

Cat, being clueless about the situation, giggles as she apparently took it as a compliment. Averting her gaze, she playfully pinches Tori's cheekbones. Jade felt her back suddenly straighten like how it usually does when she is "alarmed" over things.

'Thanks, Robbie,' she says, which only confused both Tori and Robbie.

'So, I get the thanks and you get the pinch?' Robbie asks disappointed, 'I would've been happy if it were the other way around.'

'I can help you with that,' Cat offers, smiling with that ever genuine smile of hers. 'I'm not too busy tonight so I can maybe come over too.'

'Really?'

'Mmhm!' Tori pulls Cat into a really tight and grateful hug, which peaks Jade's annoyance even more that she decided to take it out on the plastic spoon she held. Her grip tightened as the two girls before her talked about fun stuff they could do after homework.

Robbie, who decides he also deserved a hug, embraces Tori from behind, trying so hard to reach Cat as well.

It felt like her cue more than anything. Jade West crushed the spoon she was holding and stood up. She throws the tattered spoon away and grabs her things.

'I'm leaving.'

The three broke the group hug and look up at her innocently, not knowing how the Goth's bitterness shot up to overdrive.

'Aren't you going to wait for Beck?' Tori asks, finding herself trying not to sound too desperate to have the other girl stay.

'What do you care?'

Jade storms off. Unbeknownst to her, Tori Vega, who happened to be the object of her unexpected behavior, suddenly, felt her attention gravitating towards Jade's supposed seat.

/

/

/

For three days, even with Cat and Robbie's help, Tori had practically been buried in her homework for her Advanced Script Writing class. She barely showed up to the gang but if she did, she barely spoke; either she was reading and writing or just – like right now – dozing off.

Face buried in hair, paper and her arms, she was faintly snoring. It was quite a situation Jade and Beck could walk into.

'Finally, she decides to show up,' Beck greets, which received a subconscious groan from Tori. He shrugs, sets his bag down and heads for the grub truck.

As soon as he was far enough, Jade gently sets her bag down, not taking her gaze off the sleeping Vega. "Pitiful" is a nice word that could roll off her tongue right now, but her head registered lots of other words she was rather unfamiliar with. Some of these were actually "sorry", "where", "in", "fudge's", "name", "were" and "you".

Carefully sitting down as not to wake the other girl up, she pauses and scans the vicinity for any familiar face – especially anyone from the gang. Seeing as how some of Tori's hair that covered her face lightly flapped from her breathing, Jade reaches over, intending to tuck the hair behind her ear.

'Hey! She's here!'

Jade immediately withdraws her hand.

Andre, all happy and just the sweet guy he is, sits beside Tori and pulls the sleeping girl into a hug, jerking her awake.

'Hey,' Tori smiles weakly and returns the gesture.

'We were beginning to miss you,' Andre says enthusiastically.

'I don't remember beginning to.' Jade leans back in her seat, pursing her lips. To her disappointment, Tori doesn't react. Her attention was in her conversation with Andre about how she was having a hard time with the class.

'I can help too if you'd like,' Andre offers, which Tori declines with a shake of her head.

'It's alright. I should learn to handle this class alone, really.'

That's one thing Jade actually finds impressive about the girl – she never gave up. Depending on the situation, she can be labeled persistent, annoying, determined or compassionate.

'Alright,' Andre shrugs his shoulders. He then casually pushes the tray of his food closer to Tori. 'Just ask if you have any questions, alright?'

'Thanks,' Tori smiles and reaches for the tray and grabs a couple of fries, which she practically shoved in her mouth.

'Wow, down, girl.' Holding in a smirk, Andre pats Tori's back like he would a puppy's.

Now this is where everybody assumes that Jade will think of another snide remark. She doesn't say anything and doesn't even _think_ of any. Feeling rather uneasy, she adjusts in her seat and took out a pair of scissors.

Upon seeing the light yellow handled cutting tool, Tori scrambles for every piece of paper that had something to do with her homework and piled them closer to herself. She kept a protective arm around them. A French fry still dangled at her lips as she chewed on it and watched Jade closely.

For a second, Jade's brow furrowed before she rolls her eyes as emphasized as she could.

It was annoying how Tori's reaction made her feel like a tiny pair of scissors was beginning to gnaw at a small spot in her chest were her heart was. She grabs the ketchup cap and starts cutting it like her contentment rested on it and it only.

'You know,' Tori began. 'That's the only cap they have for that ketchup bottle.'

It puzzled her how the other girl could act like she usually did while she, the supposedly dominant one, was feeling almost queasy with the confusion she tried to suppress. Moreover, it made her even more _ganky_ that she couldn't understand why she was getting these feelings. It ticked her off.

Fearing that this was making her less than creative that she couldn't even come up with a comeback like she could before, she discreetly looks around. Her eyes lands on one of the pages of Tori's homework.

'I thought you couldn't handle that class. Who knows? It might finally get you kicked out of Hollywood Arts – or get you under probation at minimum.'

Tori was – supposed to be – used to Jade being mean. It's either the stress or just the recent blurred out assumptions she had with her relationship with Jade that she could blame at the moment. She actually felt hurt like she did the first time the mean girl embarrassed her in front of the class.

She breaths in a little too deeply and gathers her homework and began fixing it into a neat pile. This didn't make Jade feel any better like she thought it would. It almost felt like with each piece of paper the other girl piled with the rest, that little pair of scissors in her chest slowly dug through.

'Well.'

Andre narrows an eye - even his assumptions of Jade's being towards Tori suddenly blurred. He always thought the paler girl's mouth was a few words away from poisonous but her last comment was very unlike her normal behavior toward Tori. It almost seemed as if they were _strangers towards each other again_.

'Hey, hey, cupcake,' Rex greets Tori as Robbie came lifting the little "man" in one arm.

'Oh, hey! You're halfway through your first homework!' Robbie says enthusiastically as he settles himself beside Andre. 'That's six more to go, huh? Way to go, Tori! I knew you could do it.'

'Thanks, Robbie,' Tori smiles but stands up.

'Hey, where are you going?' Robbie asks, disappointed.

'To work on this,' Tori says a little too casually (if that is even possible), making it rather obvious that the statement was meant for Jade. 'You know, try not to get myself _kicked-out _or stuck in _probation_.'

With that, she walks away.

'She works hard,' that was obviously a much uninformed comment, which is very understandable since it came from Rex.

Andre, concerned, followed Tori with a stare as she paced further away. He sighs and turns to Jade, looking really annoyed.

Jade's callous expression totally dissipated. Her eyes were on Tori's trail. She felt the larger part of the iceberg of her persona mentally kicking her to walk after the tanner girl.

Jade's feet slid back a bit, getting herself ready to stand up and run after Tori, who, on the other hand, slowed down on her feet. For sure, part of the dynamite had ruptured. It wasn't deadly until they both realized that they had missed a very simple detail in their relationship.

For the longest time, they both thought that the key assumption whenever they opened the curtains and exposed part of their vulnerability to the other was that they were merely "disregarding" their original assumptions of what was normal. Whenever Jade felt cornered, she ran only to little miss sunshine. At times, Tori would think that this was a step closer to Jade but would only end up thinking that this was one of those "disregard-for-now" moments.

Tori would have reached for that spot that Jade had touched if she hadn't thought of the perfect word that replaced "disregard".

_Discard._

By touching her, all the other assumptions of normalcy had been discarded – that they were now forced to create all new assumptions. That's why things have become complex by a notch.

Jade sighed in frustration. If she had realized that minutes ago, she wouldn't have to run after Tori. She planted her hand on the table to get herself to stand up but to her dismay, Andre grabs his bag, ditches his food and runs after Tori.

Jade sinks back into her chair.

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><p>I thank you all dearly for the reviews. I was checking my phone for reviews earlier on a traffic light. It's a good thing I didn't die in a car accident because of my excitement. Remind me not to check reviews on the road.<p>

**Dani2606** Glad you like it. Haha. I did understand what you meant. And if we are on the same context, it is in fact what I'm really trying my very best to do. I want to make it realistic but, at the same time, Victorious-ish.

**xXLordOfInglipsXx** Hehe. I hope this is update enough. Sorry they take longer than I intended.

**JohnFreemanOverHere** I'm glad you find it interesting. I will try my best to keep you interested in this story. Please be patient with this, it's but my second fic and Victorious is just a relatively unfamiliar ground to me so it takes research and pretty rocky chapters.

**Little Miss Charlie A** Thank you. Same here. I loooove platonic. But I love it more when platonic is being poked at constantly by a little bit more interest. It was your fic, "Is this Okay?" that inspired me to write this.

**DramaHunny101** Thanks! I love the girls of Victorious. That's why I try really hard to keep their characters portrayed according to how I have come to love them.

**dontblameme-igrewupontv** Thanks much! I'm glad you like the writing style I adapted just for this. I try to make it different for every story I write. I hope I keep you as interested with each chapter

**AlphaTeam101** Your review makes me want to giggle like Cat does. Thanks! I adore their relationship in the series that's why I love subtlety with this pairing. But yeah, haha, I'll follow the draft I made in my head.

**AliasSpyCrazy **I'm glad you loved it. I hope I could keep you reading. I'll try to update regulary ;)

**Dramacat** That episode was awesome. It was actually one of the episodes I don't mind watching over and over. Thanks for the awesome review


	3. Part 1: Ignorance is This

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! NOTHING! Dang it!**

**A/N: Eh. I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammatical lapses. I was on a high - sugar high :P  
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><p><strong>I<strong>

**Every Little Thing**

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_Ignorance is This_

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'Have you ever seen a chameleon change color?'

Cat Valentine's presence is actually a very refreshing element in everyday life, especially if you're one stressed student of Hollywood Arts.

Tori Vega looks up from the already slurring words on the research entry she is holding. For six hours now, the only things that had been set on their dining table were books and papers about old English theatre and renaissance art entries.

Robbie and Cat had been helping her since after dinner and it was now as late – or early – as three in the morning. Tori was initially determined to do her homework by herself when the duo practically raided her house bringing frozen yoghurt. The rationale behind it? She didn't really bother knowing. She was fine with Cat just being sweet as she is and Robbie maybe looking for excuses to spend the night with the redhead.

Cat was fumbling with the petals of the flowers decorating the table, while Robbie was officially knocked out cold on the couch.

The youngest Vega blinks a few times, her facial expression as blank as her mind. She opens her mouth to answer but ends up sighing and removing the crimson, oval, thin-rimmed glasses off the bridge of her nose. She had started wearing reading glasses since the inception of her stress for the accursed class.

'I'm sorry. What was that?'

'Chameleons,' Cat repeated, still equally cheery as the first time she asked the question. 'Have you ever seen them change?'

'Um,' Tori's brow furrows, thinking that Cat could actually say the most intriguing and philosophical things.

No.

She was never really curious enough to find a chameleon and gawk at it until it changed color. She slightly shudders as a part of her brain equated it to staring at a person while he or she dressed.

'No, Cat. I haven't actually seen one apart from…the one in Tangled, I guess?'

Cat, whose face was behind the flower vase, tilts her head to get the other girl in view. She blinks a few times and almost looked as if this information saddened her.

'Haven't you ever wondered how it actually looked like?'

Tori would usually feel rather bothered by this kind of curiosity. She would supposedly find this rather pointless but she actually stops thinking about anything homework-related.

She sighs.

Chameleons camouflage themselves by replicating the tint of their environment. This is common knowledge. Perhaps this was why she never bothered knowing more about it. Or maybe, just like eighty percent of the world's population would think, it had nothing to do with her.

Cat could make the very intriguing things actually surface in people's heads if they only paid more attention to the things she said and not shrug her off as just weird – or, like most guys and even girls would do, discreetly gawk at her features.

Tori sets her glasses on the table and looks around a little as she contemplated a little more on the Chameleon predicament.

As basic as the knowledge about the Chameleons are, it is also a very basic knowledge that people never really bother to know about things that had nothing to do with them, unless it was something very major like a presidential death or something as cheesy as the greatest proposal ever made. It's almost tragic.

Just like Victoria Vega's knowledge about Jadelyn West.

Tori grips the coffee mug she set on the table earlier. It was cold now.

She actually feels disappointed. It occurred to her that she didn't really know anything about the phenomenon that is Jade West apart from her being Beck's girlfriend, mean, intelligent and, in fact, really attractive. Maybe if she had been more attentive she wouldn't find it too hard to deal with the suddenly most complex person in her life lately. The clock on Tori's Pearphone now indicates three o' five and this finalizes that their last interaction was three days and fifteen hours ago.

'Tori?'

Cat looked concerned. She gives Tori that little kitty cat face that can melt anyone.

'I'm fine,' Tori sips from her coffee and immediately regrets it. It was cool and it tasted like bitter water since the ground coffee must have settled at the bottom of the mug now. 'I was just thinking that I never really paid attention.'

Cat beams and lightly giggles.

'About the Chameleons?' the redhead asks.

Tori returns the smile out of relief over anything. By asking about Chameleons, Cat actually gave her an idea on how to begin fixing the whole Jade predicament. It had been really bothersome how she couldn't figure out why she was even bothered by the frozen relationship she had with Jade (of all people). If she knew a little more about Jade, she could at least do a better job trying to reconstruct whatever it is she had with the other girl.

'Yes, Cat,' Tori lightly sniggers, feeling silly about her ignorance, 'about the Chameleons.'

Cat's eyes brightened all of a sudden and she transfers to the seat closer to Tori.

'Maybe we can search for a video about it on Splash Face!'

Tori attempts to maintain her smile. She looks more like she was stretching her lips than she was smiling now. She nods with much effort.

'Yay!' Cat grabs for the closed Pearbook at the other end of the book and hastily sets it up. 'I feel smart!'

The internet proves its convenience for the billionth time in Tori's life. She can clear up her ignorance over Chameleons through Splash Face and that's when it hits her that the internet can bring her convenience for the billionth and first time. If the Chameleons had Splash Face, Jade, almost naturally, would have The Slap.

Tori practically squeezes Cat all of a sudden.

One Cat Valentine proved really helpful tonight, but she'd be flawlessly helpful if she slept immediately after the Chameleon video. Jade's profile is waiting.

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Trina Vega literally got Tori out of bed at around six thirty in the morning. With all the books and papers sprawled on their table downstairs, it was obvious that her younger sister had little to no sleep.

She wasn't in a good mood really. She had to eat breakfast on the kitchen counter because of _Tori's_ stuff, she had to shake _Tori_ out of her sleep, she was taking _TORI_ and two of her friends to school and she was going to be late because of _TORI_. Yes. Today is very _Torey_.

She wasn't as forgiving that she didn't allow the younger Vega to apply her usual make-up. Tori had to live through today with just lip gloss and eyebags – well, until she decided she'd cover the bags-under-her eyes part with eyeglasses.

At Sikowitz's class, the students chatted along, waiting for the bell to ring and seconds after it did, a half-Latina, a bipolar redhead and a ventriloquist practically busted through the door and scrambled for their seats.

Tori frowns upon noticing the front seat taken. She loved that.

Cat had taken the one by the window and Robbie just claimed the one close to the door. Tori purses her lips and looks around for a vacant seat. It didn't take long for her to locate one - but the thing is… It's. Right. Beside. Jade. West.

The youngest Vega takes a deep breath as if to collect her confidence and only releases it after taking the seat. Jade seems she intended to keep up the cold-shoulder drama as she does nothing to acknowledge her seatmate's presence.

It was fine with Tori really. After all, a couple of video profiles doesn't make her the Jade expert.

Just then, their weird-ball of a teacher _dove in _through his usual entrance – the window.

'TODAY!' he exclaims, making the front row of students jump, 'we will talk about action!'

But really, he didn't have to say it. He got everyone at hello.

'Yay-' Cat says as she claps her hands.

'No, Cat!' Sikowitz interrupts, '_Whoa_ is the right word. We will analyze what makes people say it with unsaturated conviction!'

'Oh,' Cat looks up for a second, let out an elongated "whooooaaaaa" and giggles. 'I'm witty.'

Sikowitz blinks at Cat a couple of times before looking around the room. He stops at Tori's direction and tilts his head as if his vision would become clearer if he bent his neck at an even more awkward angle.

'Are you in my class?'

'Uh, Sikowitz, it's me,' Tori tentatively responds, right eye twitching. Sikowitz twitches an eye back at her. 'Uh, Tori?'

'No, I'm not Tori. I teach this class,' he says, staying in that weird position for almost a minute, which only made things even more awkward for Tori…and the rest of the class. 'But go ahead and sit in and if you do know Tori Vega, tell her she's making this class up.'

Tori sighs in genuine hopelessness as Sikowitz begins the discussion. She slumps in her chair and rests her chin on her palm. This should be the part where she would begin doodling on her notebook to let her misery seep out, but she doesn't. By slumping and giving into morning frustration, she notices Jade turn her head a little toward her direction.

If she had thought before she did anything else, she wouldn't actually turn to Jade. Hah! According to research, lack of sleep actually kills off brain cells – a significant number of them. Thus, Tori Vega meets Jade's gaze at a whole awkward minute.

Jade parts her lips ever so slightly, while Tori blinks like it would help her understand what was going on.

The dark-clad girl looked from Tori's glasses, scans her from head to toe, but turns back her attention to Sikowitz just like that.

_Pride._

Tori turns ahead, but her thoughts obviously lingered elsewhere.

That was one thing among others that Tori deduced about Jade. The girl had the pride of a lion. Based on her hate videos, her hate videos and, yeah, her hate videos, she'd rather pick on the slightest thing she didn't like about you than appreciate your most obvious likable trait.

Jade's hands are suddenly busy with curves and hard strokes of black ink to the back page of her notebook.

_Boredom._

Tori's peripheral vision allows her to notice as much as Jade's discreetly moving hand. She raises an eyebrow with the observation. The other girl may not be the most animated person in Hollywood Arts, but she gets bored easily – then again, it was very hard to please her as well.

Probably a little too entranced by the number of conclusions and confirmations she is making out of Jade West, she hasn't really noticed how her head was now turned rather obviously towards the paler girl.

Jade's hand stops. She takes a deep breath and sets her pen down. She turns her attention on the ground at Tori's feet. She is obviously not amused by the youngest Vega's attention directed at her. But nevertheless, she isn't too sure how to react.

Last night, and the two nights before it, was nothing but pain. She was even more bothered that it wasn't the kind of pain she found enjoyable. So, twenty-four hours before Tori Vega decided to snoop Jade West's profile, she already went over the videos about the half-Latina on TheSlap.

_Tentative._

Tori seemed confident and smiley everyday but Jade had her own observations; uncertainty seeped through her façade. This should probably be the reason why she always took the front seat; it would help if she took in as much information smoothly and caught up.

This is actually a theory that Jade had worked to confirm this morning.

She pulls out the little apple green post-it note she had placed on the chair beside her moments ago. She only removed it from the chair a couple of seconds after the school bell rang and Tori came in.

It read: _Sit here and you die_.

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The gang decided that they wanted to eat elsewhere. Really, Festes grew on them but they just couldn't eat the food he made everyday. This is most definitely why they were now hunched up on the relatively tight cubicle at an Italian restaurant a few blocks away from Hollywood Arts.

'Maybe some of us should move to the next cubicle,' Andre suggests, struggling to pull out his Pearphone from his pocket as he was now a wall-and-Robbie sandwich.

The rest of the gang seconded and Tori, Beck and Jade, who were all closest to the opening stood to transfer to the next cubicle.

Tori, upon noticing who she will be transferring with, sits back down almost immediately. 'Uh, actually I'm fine with the _closeness_.'

'I don't mind,' Beck says, turning to Jade, who simply turns her attention to her suddenly interesting nails. 'Do you?'

'Dumb question.'

It was an answer as unclear as the source of Sinjin's shirt stains, but Tori, with a sigh, finally moves to sit on the bench across the other that Jade sets her stuff in.

'Hello,' a waiter greets as he pulls out a little notepad and a pen out of his pocket. 'Orders?'

'I'll have pasta,' Jade tells Beck, who skims through the menu.

'She'll have seafood, I'll have Alfredo,' Beck decides.

The waiter then turns to Tori, who seems consumed by something. She initially opens her mouth but then she looks from the waiter to Jade.

'What?'

It didn't sound like her usual _snap_ that was exclusive for Tori but there was a hint of annoyance.

Tori remembered Jade's hate video from last night. Having the tail still on shrimps will infuriate her. No doubt there – seeing how she narrated her little fit at the restaurant Beck had taken her out on a date to one night.

Really, Beck was a cool guy and a really nice boyfriend, but Tori was just the little perfectionist. She could keep details in mind like he couldn't. This is probably why she got Beck in trouble with Melinda after correcting the diva about her friend's line.

'Um,' Tori began, 'will the seafood pasta have shrimps in it?'

The waiter's eyebrows shoot up like he had just heart the most stupid question in the world. Jade would have taken the opportunity to insult, not because it was Tori but because the question was indeed stupid. However, Tori follows the question up.

'-but of course it would,' she runs a hand on her face and smiles awkwardly, 'Could you probably pull the shrimp tails off?'

'Uh,' the waiter began scribbling as he nodded. 'So it would be two seafood pastas and an Alfredo?'

'No, no. That was for her,' Tori tilts her head at Jade's direction, 'I'll have pesto.'

Jade's tongue almost folded impossibly in her mouth. Her natural reflex was to insult and she just couldn't afford to have it functioning now. She almost felt little, but Tori offers her a smile and she knew, she isn't actually alone in this little observation stint.

Beck felt the wobbling tension. His eyes darted from Tori to Jade and Jade to Tori. He was confused enough not to feel useless over not keeping Jade's preference regarding shrimps in mind.

Tori breaks the staring game and begins to fumble with the condiments in front of her. Jade's expression fell somber, actually even touched.

'A little nosy, aren't we, Vega?' she says to break the ice.

Tori looks up and for the first time in her life, she feels thankful that Jade insulted her. She shakes her head and smiles with one that would probably last the entire lunch period.

Ignorance, turns out, is a very temporary bliss.

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><p><strong>AN: THANK YOU CHAMELEONS! By watching a chameleon video on discovery channel I finally got my mind back into things. **** Thanks for reading and I'm waiting for the LOVE!(reviews) :D HAHA! NO, NO, MOMMY! I'M NOT DESPERATE!  
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**Project Heeee**Why thank you, dear. Nope, it isn't too "nooby" for me. A review makes my heart happy And I'm even happier that I'm not alone with the research thing. haha! high five yo!

**Pinklady5751** Thank you! Haha! I knew it! I knew there was really something very familiar about Avan's features.

**DramaHunny101**Thanks much. I try to be patient with the development and with writing their character behavior. Because the moment I give in to my impatience, one of them will definitely break character. Thanks so much for reading and REVIEWING of course.

**Black-Love-With-M.M**Oh, I will most definitely keep it going thanks!

**AlphaTeam101**Haha! I love this! You got me. It's actually what I had in mind because I really find Jade just a little childish although she seems wise. Thank you, thank you dear

**BabyDavid**Hehe, thanks! I'm glad you liked the previous chapters, I hope I don't disappoint you with this. I try very hard to be consistent.

**southofnowherefanatic**Ahaha, gosh, you made my heart flutter the moment I read the review. I hope I didn't and wouldn't disappoint you.

**xXLordOfInglipsXx**Oh, you. That's happiness you have given me as well. Thanks much But you know what they say, feedback (review) lead us to the right path. Hehe.

" " you know, I had a hard time thinking about how to address your username. haha! but thanks so much for the review. you are one very witty fellow my friend.

**Dani2606**Thanks so much for the review. Hehe. You made me feel like the work pays off. I'm glad you understand how I want it to seem like. AND YES! A JOOOOORI episode will be EPIC! I'm really happy about the reading between the lines thing they do on Nick but *sigh* don't think my wish to watch one Jori episode would happen.

**Little Miss Charlie A**Hehe. I don't usually stalk but I feel honored to have you read and review the fic. After all, you inspired me. Yep! I'll keep Andre in check and I'll probably do a little more research about the guy. Yeah…tenses are just nuts. I really have issues with it. Thanks again, I'll try to be more careful with it

**AliasSpyCrazy** That, my friend, is so true, Jori is a very difficult platform but it makes people produce really awesome fics. It's very complex pairing because of the unpredictability of their relationship. BAH! What am I saying? I just love them. Thanks for the review P.S. loved you new fic! ;) I'll make a review as soon as my brain is a little less numb.


	4. Part 1: Sincerely, Jade

**Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or Oreos. That's right. Oreos.**

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><p><strong>I<strong>

**Every Little Thing**

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_Sincerely, Jade_

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If things are observed according to what is shown on the surface, sincerity would most definitely go hand-in-hand with a person's level of expressiveness, but, again, _if_ behavior is only considered at the shallowest levels.

Like Robbie Shapiro.

He is quite the odd ball. Any normal, pop-ridden girl is likely to run away from him the first time he opens his mouth and tries to engage in a conversation. Physically, he isn't problematic; he actually looks like Andy Samberg. But really, even without the Andy Samberg reference, the boy had an appeal of his own. The point is, not every girl understands the boy's depth.

He is nice – or rather, he seems nice.

He would take you to a fancy place for dinner and he would even bring extra company just so you wouldn't feel too awkward staying with him for the rest of the night. It's a shame though that the company being referred to happens to be an annoying puppet. But yeah, he'd do those things for any girl. He can make any girl happy if he could just try – that's if he and his date wouldn't get in a sticky situation.

Well. Robbie has this tendency of throwing others off the pit if a significant percentage of his sanity is consumed by panic. He'd drink the only remaining water for himself and he'd let cannibalistic children feed on a friend if it means getting himself saved.

This is his depth cut down in half.

Other than that, he is very sweet and caring. He just can't be too consistent with his sincerity levels and that just defeats the whole point of being sincere.

Exhibit Jade though is a totally different perspective to sincerity. On the surface, she is nothing like Robbie.

She can cut people's flesh into shreds if her words ever physically sliced through. She is awesomely vengeful and, to top that all off, she is very, very sincere in the weirdest manner – and maybe a little too sincere that she can actually make people cry with her level of straightforwardness.

However, at about the thousandth step she had just made in her own room, she couldn't get herself to say a very, very simple word to a certain someone.

Which is the reason why the same Jade West referred to is currently sending the most surreal spam messages to Tori Vega.

She initially didn't want to send spam really. All she wanted was to find a way to show the Vega household's youngest which parts of their previous relationship she wanted maintained and, most of all…to apologize.

Being Jade West has its downsides even if you had to live talented and hot because you couldn't get yourself to say things like everybody else does – like how Elmo from Sesame Street says "I love you", how Cat says "hi, Tori" or how Tori says "It's going to be okay, Robbie". The equivalents of these, task passed to her mouth, would be "…", "VEGA!" and "It's not going to be okay."

Tori skims through Jade's messages on her phone with a cringe.

'In 20 years, the basement of your house will be infested by rats and termites?' Tori reads, slowing down as she neared the end of probably the fifty-sixth message. 'Wow, that's just very…Jade.'

The shorter girl already tried sending a message back, asking Jade to stop spamming her inbox. Unfortunately though, instead of getting the silence she wanted for her phone's inbox, the messages doubled in number.

Mrs. Vega looks up from her plate.

'Honey, we're eating.'

'Yes, mom,' Tori sighs. 'It's just that Jade's bugging my phone. Literally.'

'Then call her and tell her to bug later,' Trina says _helpfully_, simultaneously dumping the serving of mashed potato she couldn't finish on her sister's plate.

Tori suddenly finds herself guilty over stupid for not considering Trina's suggestion. She had actually thought about it, she just didn't do it. She wasn't going to lie about liking the attention. After all, she and Jade had just recently "made-up".

With a sigh, Tori throws her phone on the nearest couch. Unbeknownst to her, in the West household, Jade had also just thrown her phone on her bed with a very audible sigh.

The rebellious West paces the floor near her bed, arms folded across her chest and lips pursed. For the fifty-sixth time, instead of saying the apology that she wanted to set free, she delayed things again by sending another spam message.

This is Jade West. She is ostensibly the epitome of tough, but with Tori Vega, things always seem to take an unexpected turn for her and this happens at all possible levels. She inwardly curses at the thought.

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'God, Cat,' Robbie sighs exasperatedly. He runs a hand through his face as he tries one more time to say sorry. Apparently, Cat had again been luncheon meat for hungry dream kids, but this time, she was fooled into bathing in a cauldron. 'I'm sorry, okay?'

Cat drops her spoon on her food tray, looks away rather dramatically and folds her arms across her chest.

'Oh, come on! I said I'm sorry!'

Silence.

'Cat, please don't make me say sorry again-'

'Damn straight you're not saying it 'cause I'm going to shove my sandwich up your throat!' Jade snaps. To her, the situation wasn't the only thing annoying – it was the word involved. It just so happens that until now, she hadn't said it yet. Although Tori never asked for an apology, the Goth could practically feel the little word squirming at the pit of her stomach, wanting to be set free.

Robbie purses his lips in a second and makes a sideways glance at Tori who shrugs her shoulders.

'Somebody's extra cranky today,' Tori says as she returns to skimming through her textbook's pages.

'Yeah, don't push your luck, Vega.'

This part of Jade West is called the _reflex_. Most of the time, she would take pleasure in its effects and later implications, but it's times like this that she would find herself internally cursing for the nth time this day.

'Wow-' Tori raises her brow and had to dig a nail in her palm to stop herself from asking Jade if it is _that_ time of the month.

'Cat?' Robbie slowly asks, throwing cautious glances at Jade, who snatches Andre's fork from his hand.

'Okay,' Andre says, still looking at his fork. 'Do you know _switching_, Robbie? Why don't you say – let's see – _pineapple_ instead of the usual "s" word for an apology.'

'Yay! I love switching!' Cat suddenly jumps in her seat as if every hormone pushing her annoyance earlier had shot out of her ears.

'Uh,' Robbie shakes his head lightly as his brain went over the mechanics, 'okay, Cat? Pineapple. Please? Pineapple already!'

'Okay,' Cat purses her lips as she looks up, thinking. 'Okay. Robbie? _Cool Whip_!'

Tori, Andre, Jade and Robbie (and Rex) throw glances at each other as if whatever _Cool Whip _was would be clearer if they did. Seeing that either no one had an idea or they just didn't feel like entertaining the thought, they went back to their businesses.

'Aren't you going to answer that, Robbie? I just forgave you!' Cat says excitedly.

'Um, right. Well. Maybe _Thanks_ can be _Robot_?'

Jade rolls her eyes. '_Pear_, Robbie.'

The rest of the gang was actually surprised that Jade decided to take part in Cat and Robbie's attempt to rearrange a dispute. They stare at her, waiting for an explanation.

'Pear?' Tori asks.

'Yes, Pear. Everything about this boy is just _Pear_.'

'I don't even want to know what _Pear_ is,' Andre mumbles.

'She must have meant, _uncool_,' Rex says, making Robbie roll his eyes and slump to his seat.

'Hey,' Beck greets with his chummy kid voice as he sets his bag on the seat beside Jade. He offers a cupcake to his girlfriend, who takes it rather nonchalantly. He sighs inwardly at this.

'Beck! _Homemade or Grandma Oven-Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies!_' Cat says – consistently enthusiastic. On every word. Beck blinks then looks at the cupcakes he brought.

'Should I have gotten Jade that?'

'They're playing _switching_,' Andre clarifies and Robbie mumbles something about a serious apology evolving into a mere plaything.

Beck mouths an "oh" and nods. He sits down and kisses Jade's temple.

Tori suddenly finds herself wanting to be nothing but busy with _anything_. It's quite puzzling how it made her want to shift to her seat or pretend to read a little more from her books. The couple always kissed and snuggled in public, thus, it's quite a _bother_ to even be slightly _bothered _about it.

'So,' she chooses to divert her attention into that _switching _game. 'Cat, what would _Homemade or Grandma Oven-Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies_ be?'

Cat giggles. '_Hi_.'

'No,' Tori furrows her brow but places a hand on Cat's like it would prevent the redhead from taking her next words as an insult. Jade straightens at the gesture. The space in her brain that was labeled _reflex_ (or at times, _stupidity_) is suggesting she screams "sorry" right this moment.

'You see, Cat. Do you know those times when we say _hi-byes_? Like in the hall or down the street? I don't think I can manage, "_Homemade or Grandma Oven-Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies_, Cat!"' Tori continues with a wide, forced smile.

'Should I have gone for just _Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies_?'

'Sweet Mother of Kermit,' Rex groans, while Andre, Beck and Robbie decided that it was time to go on with their lives, leaving Tori to handle the situation.

Tori breathes in a little too deeply and answers, 'I guess you can try that and if it doesn't work, you can always say _cupcake_ instead.'

'Oh, I love cupcakes! _Red Velvet Cupcakes, _Tori!' Tori's smile faded but she pats the top of Cat's head anyway.

If it were a very normal day in Hollywood Arts, Jade would've pushed another coloring book to Cat's space on the table and tell her to color some pretty animal. She may be Jade West, but at this moment, she is Jade West _in a sickening predicament_ and the clueless redhead actually gave her an idea.

She admits, there are times that Cat proves smarter than her and she doesn't even know it. Maybe she just says the most basic things.

'_Oreos_,' Jade says, looking at Cat with a slight smirk.

'Uh, Cat,' Tori cringes at the sight of that all-too familiar smirk. 'I think _Oreos _might be _warning_.'

'Depends,' Jade's smirk disappears, but for the first time this day, she finally feels relaxed.

/

/

/

It was like a normal Vega household afternoon; Trina, in the kitchen, brewing things that would help her face glow, and, Tori, in the living room, wallowing about her homework but still managing to update her status on The Slap.

Yes. Truly. It was very normal.

But only until three consistently hard knocks (or rams) on their main door was heard throughout the receiving area.

'I thought we had a doorbell,' Trina comments, pausing from mashing another avocado. She signals Tori to grab the door. But really, the youngest Vega would have known that she would be the one getting it. It's part of the _normal_ afternoon.

'Coming!'

Tori fumbles for her reading glasses on their coffee table and wears it to cover the bags under her eyes. She then jogs toward the door and swings it open only to be led to believe that this afternoon will be nothing like normal.

'_Pineapple_.'

Tori blinks at the figure in front of her that happens to be Jade West calling her a tropical fruit.

'Uh,' Tori opens her mouth to say something. Perhaps, right at this moment, she needs to stand in front of the closest mirror and check if she mutated into a Hawaiian delicacy.

Jade visibly grows impatient and shifts positions. She sighs and repeats the same word she said earlier, only a little flatly, '_Pine. Apple._'

Tori's right eye twitches. She also realized that this eye happens to twitch a lot in Jade's presence. She was confused but as soon as she caught on, Jade rolls her eyes and turns to leave.

'Jade! Wait,' she quickly grabs the other girl's wrist and searches the right code in her brain, panicked. She almost jumps in relief as she vaguely remembers the response Cat used during lunch. '_Whipped Cream_!'

There was a second of silence then both their eyes narrowed in confusion.

'Wait-' Tori brings her hand to her chin, looking up as she thought her response over.

Jade shrugs a shoulder and walks into the Vega house, past Tori's shoulder. 'That's new. I expected _Cool Whip_.'

'Oh,' Tori shakes her head and shuts the door behind her.

Jade slumps into the living room couch not even minding to greet or look at Trina, whose face was now the extension of some sort of Avocado Salad.

'Um, may I know why you're here?' Tori asks, genuinely curious, 'and why say sorry?'

'I said, _Pineapple_,' Jade corrects her, turning the television on with the remote.

Tori rolls her eyes and sits down beside Jade.

'Oh and,' Jade turns her head to face Tori and pulls the reading glasses off the bridge of the youngest Vega's nose, '_Pear_.'

Tori backs a little from the gesture, feeling a shudder coming on.

'Yes, thank you for _being nice_, Jade, but listen, I'm waiting for Cat, she's supposed to help me with a couple of scenes—which reminds me, It's already five and she's not here yet. I'm quite worried.'

Tori stands up to get her phone when, Jade pulls her back down.

'She sent me; she's at the Freezy Queen.'

Jade's eyes were straight on the television. To Tori, the girl was obviously hiding the hint of the lie she just made. Well, it really was not a total lie. After all, Cat _is _at a really fancy branch of Freezy Queen, _enjoying an all-expense paid trip_. But to Jade, she _is_ hiding a hint of something but not the lie. She's a pretty good liar. She simply didn't want Tori to catch even a hint of the unease she was feeling.

'Sent you?' Tori asks skeptically. 'Since when did you take favors? And it has something to do with _me_.'

'So do you want help or not?' Jade asks, ignoring Tori's question.

Tori shrugs and tentatively stares at the pile of papers and books on the coffee table.

'Um.'

Jade rolls her eyes, grabs a whole pile of papers and skims through the texts.

Tori looks from the now neatly bundled pile of papers to the one holding them. Nothing really sways that stern expression on Jade's face. She always seemed bored or like nothing was ever interesting in the world. But there are those special times (that Tori now finds herself looking forward to) that tells differently than the Goth girl intends to show.

Like right now, Jade seems all grumpy over scanning homework that isn't hers in the first place, but if Tori could just stare a little longer, she'd understand that Grumpy was actually shy.

Tori's slowly smiles, '_Robot_.'

If Trina had been with them at a closer proximity and with full focus, she could actually point out that her sister was at the point of giddiness. But yeah, she's in the kitchen with her mashed Avocado army.

Jade doesn't look up or, rather, chose not to. There happens to be a little smile threatening to break her façade that she refused to show Tori.

She responds with a low, 'hm.'

/

/

/

'So you're trying to tell me that you intend to kill the main character off but you don't know how to make it exciting?'

After over three hours, the two girls actually made progress – well, that is, as regards to the homework and looking into the other's eyes. They had different spans. Tori could manage three seconds but at the third, she starts to fret, while Jade could last eight seconds but would have to make an insult to get to the seventh and eight second.

Jade patiently waited for an answer from Tori. She broke eye contact at the fifth second to make sure she wouldn't have to insult the other girl for about the eighty-eight instance.

'Yes, but not entirely,' Tori answers, handing over a mug of freshly brewed coffee to Jade, who takes it very carefully as not to brush her fingers with Tori's. 'I'm still kind of torn about killing her off.'

'Well, you should,' Jade says nonchalantly. 'She's a real klutz.'

'Well!' Tori says, exasperated.

'I'm not kidding,' Jade deliberately turns about three pages in _slight_ disgust. She then stops at one page and began scribbling on it. 'Maybe you should start character development at this point. I mean, we don't want another _Bella_ in this era.'

Tori thought Jade almost seemed like she was really into what she was doing – sans the insults, that is. She sits back down and throws occasional glances at the (maybe) clueless West. To her misfortune, Jade turns to her, just in time to see her looking in a truly lousy attempt to cover her _discreet_ observations - half Tori's face was behind her coffee mug.

Jade raises eyebrow and smirks. 'Either something's on my face or it's just my face you find nice to look at.'

Tori rolls her eyes, '_Coffee bean_.'

'And that would be?' Jade asks, still smirking.

'Conceited.'

'Okaaay,' Jade answers, sounding unconvinced.

Tori averts her attention to the TV. The moment Jade turned on the electronic, it had been running on Crimes TV. The programming was seriously disturbing but she left it there because she thought it would be the least she could do to thank Jade for helping her out.

'Ugh,' Tori says under her breath as the program narrator began babbling about the world's most disturbing crimes.

Noticing the other girl's disgust, Jade sets the papers down. 'Why do you watch this if it disgusts you?'

''Cause you like it,' Tori answers flatly.

Jade furrows her brow but immediately slips back to her _default_ expression. She turns to the Television Program. At this point, she can convince anyone that she was engrossed by Jack the Ripper's story on the TV.

Yes, she can convince anyone – but not herself. It was strange and by _it, _her head meant Tori. The girl didn't need to try so hard to show that she considered the feelings of others – more so, the feelings of a person who had been nothing but mean to her.

Maybe at this point too, she could have concluded concretely that there really isn't a need to be too extravagant with words or actions to express sincerity; there isn't a need to be like everybody else and level expressiveness with sincerity. But then, the doorbell suddenly rings like the Fire Department's main alarm.

'I'll get it,' Tori walks to the main door and lazily yanks it open.

'HEY!' Cat says cheerily – as usual. She lifts a paper bag with the red Freezy Queen label on it to Tori's face. 'Jade told me not to come but I felt like bringing you something to relieve your stress.'

'Thaaaanks, Cat.'

Freezy Queen can relieve anyone's stress, but really, "_Jade told me not to come"_ is a truly interesting phrase. It was Tori's turn to smirk. She slowly turns to Jade, who was trying her best not to scream "_Oreos" _at Cat.

Jade's gaze darts from Cat's cheery face to Tori's _ego-inflated_ one. She grits her teeth and hisses at Tori, '_Coffee bean_.'

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**End of Part One**

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><p><strong>AN: And so, before I say anything else, I would like to say that yes, Part One is complete and so the next time I update, it will be under Part Two. That's why I changed the Chapter naming. Phew. I'm beat but I absolutely had fun with this chapter. I really, really hope you guys did too.**

**DramaHunny101** For a second I was imagining Jade with the, "You're ever so welcome" line. haha. Thanks again for the review and thinking this story even deserves to be called awesome. That's right. She did throw the food Beck ordered for her in the video. So wasteful these people are. I hope you liked this chapter as much.

**MusicNinja1010**Yay I'm glad you like it. I hope I met your expectations with this chapter.

**AlphaTeam101** Thanks for the review, Alpha. You are among those who remind me of the essence of the story. I hope you had like this chapter too. I gave it my everything, since it's the last entry to Part One. I'll try my very, very best to make the attraction plausible on my next update (Pilot for Part Two).

And yeah, I like their relationship the way it is in the series and I don't want to deviate from it. Rather, I want this story to illustrate "growth" from that relationship we both have come to love.

Again, thank you, thank you, thaaank you.

**ChaseLehrman**It truly is tempting to just throw them at each other, they're just soooooooo, soooo hot but cute together. Really. I hope I didn't disappoint you with the turn of events in this chapter.

**Black-Love-With-M.M**Why, thank you dear I hope you love this update as much.

**Dani2606**Glad you liked that little moment. Sorry this took longer to write, I just didn't want this chapter to go by without those cute moments we love.

And you know, the previous episode really brightened my day. It cracked me up how they argue and throw hate glances at each other in that episode. I don't know if it's just me or maybe those antics are really just so cute.

**Little Miss Charlie A**Thank you, ma'am (Beck Style) you make me happy.

**Project Heeee**Thank you, thank you, really. And hey, I totally understand. We Jori fans have a connection, you know? I just hope I don't make you feel like I rushed things with this chapter. Jori is nothing short of a challenge, every nook and cranny of their interaction mustn't be disregarded. Thank you again and I hope you had fun with this chapter.**  
><strong>

**femslash-addict**Haha, yeah, I think I missed that out but thank you, thank you for the review dear There isn't much dialogue here relative to other stories but I hope I have provided dialogue enough. Thanks so much again.

**BabyDavid**Glad I could make you fall in love with the story. I do hope you are still in love with it after this chapter. I had to spend more than five minutes to think over their lines for this one so I'm quite worried someone might've jumped out of character. But bah! Regardless, you made me happy

**AliasSpyCrazy**I'm glad you thought it was awesome. And really, thanks for being sharp about the gist of the chapters. You keep me reminded that I should be very careful with my writing and that I should keep fillers in check. It would be an honor to get you to keep reading. Thanks so much again.


	5. Part 2: Look at Me, Tori—er—Skye

**A/N: I am now introducing Part II with this Chapter. Sorry it took longer than intended to post. I had to go over the drafts scattered all over my notes and my bags and my closet and my bed and maybe my bathroom too…or not. Yeah. This story's all over my room.**

**Oh and, I'll try to make the next chapter better. "Somewhere in the Middle" is my favorite Dishwalla song after all.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious.**

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><p>.<p>

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**II**

**Somewhere in the Middle**

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_Look at Me, Tori—er—Skye_

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Perhaps, love is the most impressive thing. It can make people charge at the most vicious beast with an army of one, forgive the seemingly limitless sinner or destroy an entire city – _all for love._

Take Tori and Jade, for example. They—

Actually, love has nothing to do with what's going to happen in the moments to follow – not yet and not in reality, at least.

For now, we talk about Language.

Yes. We talk about that method that uses a set of symbols or words that people make the most of in order to _communicate_. In a more specific sense, it's like a pipe that strives to connect two separate ends. However, like any existing concept, Language has its facets, dimensions, categories or whatever it is people decide to call the way they experience this phenomenon.

A couple of hours earlier until this very second, Tori Vega had been dealing with the concept, but only at the most basic and popular level – language as per culture or geographic-relation.

_Spanish_ to be exact. She may have Hispanic roots but that doesn't really rule out the fact that she might have a hard time writing about it.

It was now ten in the evening and the script was finally finished. She had just read through nearly three-hundred pages – including annotations, character preferences and translations for the lines she had written in her native dialect.

'_Mireme_, Skye' were the last words scribbled on the last page of the script she held.

_Look at me, Skye._

It was Jade's idea to put a little extra effort on the already demanding assignment. At first, Tori took it as just another one of the other girl's tricks to give her a hard time, but she eventually came to thinking that Jade had been pretty weird the entire night. Well, weird because she was out of her usual _weird_.

The half-Latina had thought that it may have been something she ate – or perhaps, she genuinely meant _Pineapple_.

Tori stretched her feet and arms both in relief and satisfaction. This was just the first draft of the script, but she was just thankful she could finally sleep the next five to six hours out.

The youngest of the Vega household lets out the first happy sigh of the night and turns to her bed, looking at it like it is her road to heaven.

'Why, hello there,' she mumbles as she jumped in and tangled herself in her sheets, 'I missed you dearly, _bed. _You make me so happy.'

Tori stretched her limbs further into her sheets and, ever so slowly, her eyes closed. She takes a ridiculously deep breath with an equally ridiculous smile on her face and just before she could let it go, that suddenly nasty _Tri-tone_ of her phone went off.

Her eyes open and her supposed sigh turn into an audible groan. 'Hateful people! Only _hateful_ _people_ do this to peace-loving individuals! _Why?_'

Her arms fly up above her head, flailing them in annoyance. She lifts a leg and uses the momentum of its fall as her force to sit up. She continues to mumble about _those_ hateful people and their nation led by Jade West as she rambles to her study desk.

It was true. Only hateful people bothered her self-proclaimed peace-loving character for the Contact Name of _Brazilian Brewery_ is now displayed at the center of her Pear Phone's screen.

It's obviously Jade. Tori decided to change the West girl's Contact Name after several months of leaving it as simply Jade West, and _Brazilian Brewery_, she had thought about a couple of hours ago, was the best embodiment of the paler girl's conceit. She always thought Brazil's coffee beans are simply the epitome of coffee.

It is nothing short of unusual to get messages from Jade West – messages that made sense, that is.

Now, at this very point of Tori Vega's life, she experiences a little deeper look into Language. This dimension could best be described as "exclusivity". This aspect includes inside jokes and information only people who share exclusive experiences would understand.

'_La noche es fría y feroz_.'

_The night is cold and fierce._

Tori held back a smile. She sees the image of _Tuck_, love interest to the lead, _Skye_. He was supposed to hold Skye by the chin at this point and show her how deeply concerned he had been from the very moment he figured he was in love with her.

It's a very sweet gesture for Tori, but really, Jade is far from sweet. No, she's not – or it's just Jade had an entirely different definition of sweet.

This is probably the reason why another text message immediately followed.

'This is LA, Vega. Like _that_ would happen. Tuck that smile in.'

"_That" _happened to be Tuck, almost pleading for a smile from Skye, who had thought that she lost all purpose in life.

Oh, but Tori is definitely smiling now. She shook her head. She was about to shut the other girl up with a text message that simply said _thanks_, when the _Tri-tone_ alert went off again.

'Are you asleep? _Slacker_.'

Tori rolls her eyes. She dips her finger on the screen, by the backspace symbol to delete the smiling emoticon and the initially nicer word she had typed on the text space and replaced it with a sarcastic remark.

'Y_es. I dream of scissors held by a Hispanic, a mean girl and hateful crowds pummeling each other right this moment.'_

Jade doesn't reply.

Tori shifts her weight on her other foot, feeling suddenly guilty for some reason. She waits for another minute and the reply doesn't come.

She sighs, deciding that it was for the better. As much as she liked showing Jade that she isn't to be picked-on all the time, she just wanted sleep. So, she drags herself to her bed and slumps back to the pale yellow sheets, taking her phone with her.

She stares at her Pear Phone, waiting for the last minute to pass before the screen automatically locks itself. She sighs and finally closes her eyes.

And then comes the _Tri-tone _alert.

_Hateful people!_

'So, are you in bed yet?' says the _Brazilian Brewery_.

'Jade. It's almost eleven in the evening. What do you think?' says the "peace-loving" creature.

'Look out your window.'

All signs of sleep suddenly leap out of Tori's system. She reads through the other girl's message once more and finally decides that it was real. Her eyes were wide open now. She throws her phone on her bed and lunges for the window with a furrowed brow.

'How?' she mutters under her breath. It didn't sound like she was annoyed or agitated.

She searches the now quiet neighborhood with her eyes as she held the curtain back. Her right eye threatened to do the _twitching thing_ out of the confusion Jade is causing. She hurries back to her bed and fumbles on the panel of her phone as she unlocks it.

'I don't see you.'

She watches the four words pop into a new speak bubble just on top of the text space and she immediately regrets doing so. She knew that it was what Jade intended to do –

You know – pull her out of bed, get on her nerves.

On another known part of LA, Jade West had just burst into a fit of laughter. But actually, no. She's Jade West after all, so, she _simply_ smirks at Tori's reply.

From the moment she sent the first text message, she had thought that she was using Language to get a message through to Tori Vega – that she was just trying to tell _The_ _Hybrid_ (as she had decided to name her on her Pear Phone just a couple of minutes ago) that nothing changes from this night's events.

But really, she mainly wants to test how the words "_The Hybrid_" would look like in a little round-edged rectangle at the center of her phone's screen, indicating "Text Message".

Based on the first text message and until probably the one she is about to type, she'd be using the same patterns of speech and interaction. This is a check. She'd be using the same amount of sarcasm – check. She'd be using the same intention of annoying Tori – check?

There was an existing _but_ in this equation.

Conceivably, if their current conversation is read by anybody else, nothing was particularly special about it – it is all in the same Jade-Tori Language.

And just maybe, that the _but_ is this conversation being exhibit _Exclusivity_.

'You actually got out of bed. This should be fun.'

Even if she is districts away from Tori Vega, she could practically hear _The Hybrid_ grumbling, which she is actually right about.

'Real mature,' types _Hybrid_.

'Thanks,' answers _Brewery_.

Silence.

_Hybrid_ smiles to herself, so does _Brewery_. They both turn to lie on their sides.

'Thanks again, Jade. I'll see you tomorrow.'

The paler girl takes a moment to look at the message at the center of her phone that also indicates those absurd set of words she had picked for the sender. She doesn't even notice how she was still smiling.

As soon as the screen darkened a little, she taps the screen. She decides to send one last text message for the night.

'Funny. I thought you wanted to see me _now_.'

'Goodni~ght.'

Connotations aside, that _Brazilian Brewery_ must be a really happy place right now.

/

/

/

Harvey's Advance Script Writing Class is a torture chamber and a big bore. Not entirely though. All that has to be done to enjoy his class is to read through all his reference materials, do homework and finish the first draft of the scripts he assigned.

Take Tori Vega for example. She is currently sitting confidently on her seat, front row, smiling ever so widely as she listened to Antoine Harvey's nonsense.

Regardless of the lacking amount of sleep she had, she is undoubtedly happy, lines from her script running through her head at certain occasions. Yes, proud she is – up until the school bell rings, indicating lunch. Unbeknownst to her _skippy_ little head, the _darker_ branch of the _Language Family Tree_ has begun creeping its way into this chapter of her life.

Tori sweeps her bag off the floor and was ready to step out of the door when Harvey calls her name. She turns around, smile still plastered on her face.

'We need to talk.'

'Uh, sure,' she shrugs her shoulder and walks the isle between the armchairs, towards her teacher, who looked nothing but stern. 'Yes?'

Harvey offers a rather sarcastic smile and looks momentarily at the floor like the script he prepared was written there somewhere.

'So,' he began, to which Tori smiles sheepishly, 'impressive script – not to mention you put extra effort there.'

'Well.' Her ego couldn't be anymore inflated now.

'and since you're so good, I want you to bring this script to life-' Harvey leans on the desk behind him and reaches for an undeniably thick stack of papers – Tori's script. '-mid semester.'

Tori's smile immediately fades. Those words that leapt out of her teacher's mouth, she believes, is the mother of that _Evil Language_ family referred to earlier. She is a fusion of sarcasm and euphemism. Maybe she could be called _Sarcaphemism_. The half-Latina hated her already.

'Mr. Harvey?' she asks, suddenly feeling lost, 'I thought everybody will be presenting at a much later part of the semester.'

'Yes, everybody else will be,' Harvey confirms with a nod. He turns Tori's script to the very last page and holds it out to her, 'but since you're so special – not you. No, no.'

She didn't understand – until she takes the script in her hand and reads a tiny set of scribbled words on the lower right-hand corner of the page.

_Antoine Harvey eats pants._

By now, that bitch, _Sarcaphemism_, just gave birth to a different kind of evil in that Medical Institution called _Tori's Head_. The youngest Vega felt more than pleased to name the spawn.

Tori doesn't curse, but she decides that it should be called, #$%.

Both her eyes twitch. Her feet itch to dart for the door and hunt down the person who owned that penmanship.

_Jade West._

/

/

/

The search didn't last long. In the hall, Vega immediately spots West, who is looking bored as ever as she shoved some of her books into her locker. Just before she could shut the locker close, Tori marches toward her and shuts it for her – with extra force.

Jade's eyebrows raise for a moment.

Now, this here is _Body Language_. People tend to use them more often than any other type of Language, especially if the said _people_ were old enough to feel tentative about their next response. Take this for example:

'This is some new way of showing gratitude, right?' Tori's right eye only twitches at this statement. Jade smirks. 'I like it.'

'This is serious!' Tori suddenly snaps.

'I bet it is,' Jade confirms sarcastically.

And if there is anything with Body Language that made it particularly interesting, it's how a single movement or set of movements could be defined differently by people. Like how Tori could take some things that Jade does as nonchalance but is actually uncertainty to the other girl.

The paler girl pulls out a gum from her purse, places it between her lips and begins pulling it in as she chews. 'What's your mosquito bite about now?'

'Antoine Harvey eats pants,' Tori shifts her weight to her other foot and crosses her arms across her chest. 'Doesn't that ring a bell?'

Now, Jade smirks. She had actually forgotten about that little statement she doodled on the page. She honestly thought Tori would get rid of it.

'Wow, you didn't see it?' Jade looked like she is genuinely surprised and like Tori was really just stupid, which is really a look she had _always_ given the half-Latina after an insult.

'No, and now, you're helping me cast the lead roles!' Tori demands. She pulls out the script from her bag and hands it over to Jade.

'Excuse me?' Jade slightly tilts her head.

'No, I will not excuse you!'

Tori's eyes narrows as she waits a little more for a response from Jade. She actually expected West to say _no_ as she despised taking orders from people – but she doesn't. Somewhere in that bored mask, there's definitely something else.

Tori grabs Jade's wrist and practically dragged her across the hall. As busy as the students of Hollywood Arts always seem to be, some of them actually stopped to see the unusual sight.

Once upon a time, Jade did the dragging.

The duo comes across Beck, who raises both his arms to stop them.

'I'm supposed to take my girlfriend to lunch!' he calls out as they practically ignore him.

'You're girlfriend is _mine_ for now!' Tori answers without looking back, but she stops, turns to Beck and adds, 'and she's _not_ eating lunch!'

She darts a glare at Jade, who happened to reciprocate the look with an equally piercing one. Tori doesn't falter. 'Yes, you heard me right!'

/

/

/

The two girls practically bickered throughout lunch period. Progress was minimal to none.

However, after some intervention from the rest of the gang and after hearing Tori's predicament, they helped go over what was needed for the casting. Cat and Andre actually even volunteered as stand-ins for the _Skye_ and _Tuck_ roles, while Sinjin made a post for an immediate call for auditions on The Slap.

After class, everyone was in the Black Box Theatre; Robbie and Beck manned the queue of auditioners, Cat and Andre were stand-ins and Tori and Jade were the judges.

Oh and, Tori didn't starve Jade. Although she intended to and Jade didn't really seem to care, after about half an hour of judging auditions, the half-Latina noticed how the other girl chewed on her nails.

Tori wasn't sure what that edition of her _Body Language_ meant but she had Sinjin buy a Turkey sandwich from the Grub Truck. She could be even scarier than Jade sometimes but she just isn't _evil_ – or _that_ evil, Jade thought then. Honestly, she was almost impressed until she saw the sandwich.

Currently, Tori is slumping on her desk with both her hands on either side of her head. A significant amount of time had gone by and she hadn't seen anyone she liked without being even a little doubtful.

'But that's not the point!' Cat, or _Skye_, screams with her hands balled into fists on her sides. She pants, apparently tired from arguing with the auditioning _Tuck._ He is honestly a good-looking boy with dark hair and prominent eyebrows. But with the silence wrapping the Judge's desk, he is apparently another smoked ham.

'Look at me, Skye,' the boy, who was apparently nicknamed Jester by his own mom, held Cat at both her shoulders, then he reaches for her chin after a moment's silence.

Tori didn't like him from the moment he stepped in the theatre. He seems so unsure about what he was made to do and even if this is a forgivable element of an audition, his narcissism just reeked. He constantly reaches for his hair, keeping his bangs from his face.

The youngest Vega puts down her writing hand and marked the boy's name off the list.

'Okay!' Jade suddenly screams. 'Next!'

No one came in. She growls and slams a hand on the table. Tori jumps from the thud, making her look down at Jade's obviously throbbing hand. She would ask if that hand hurt but, in a second, it occurs to her how pain is welcome to the paler girl.

'Send in another fool!'

Tori rolls her eyes at the remark. She massages her forehead, hoping to get rid of the stress. She then moves her hand to her nape, but before she could rub there, her head tilted enough to notice Jade's hand again. It is but a flinch away from touching her right hand. She shakes her head as soon as another auditioner came beaming at them.

This time it's a female and a real pretty one at that. Brunette locks extending to her shoulders, lean figure and sun-kissed skin.

'Hi,' she says, maintaining her smile. 'Daphne.'

'Hey, Daphne' Tori greets back with a light wave and a smile – a gesture that Jade finds herself groaning at. 'You're auditioning for Skye obviously. We provided a couple of lines on the post so just start whenever you're ready.'

'So, she'd be standing-in for Tuck?' the girl asks, referring to Cat, who seems nevertheless enthusiastic.

'Uh,' Tori cranes her neck around the Theatre for Andre. She would have searched a little more but Jade just had to stretch her right arm and glance at a non-existent watch on her wrist a little too obviously. 'Fine. Just do it with Cat.'

'That's me!' Cat greets as she assumes position.

Seconds of silence passed then Daphne began talking. The girl knew her lines but that accent she tries to adapt just isn't working.

Both Jade and Tori raise eyebrows out of loss for hope, but the girl isn't too bad if they just had ear buds. Watching her is comparable to viewing a masterpiece of a movie that's been poorly dubbed. So, they decide unanimously that she deserves a couple more minutes.

And when the fifth minute hits, Cat reaches for Daphne's chin. She looks deep into her eyes and offers her the warmest smile she could.

Almost at the same time, Jade and Tori find themselves straightening at the motion in front of them.

'Look at me, Skye,' Cat says in a slight whisper. She takes a step closer towards Daphne.

Jade suddenly felt the need to clear her throat, so she does, making Tori flinch like she was caught doing something illegal. This slight movement brought the two _judges _to their further discomfort as Tori's pinky brushed Jade's.

They both react with the touch, forgetting whatever was happening in front of their desk.

Tentatively, Tori turns her head toward Jade, pausing a slight second for a couple of times in the process.

Jade would chew at absolutely anyone's nerves right this point like she always did the moment she found herself trapped in an awkward situation – _with_ Tori, that is. But she couldn't. She gulps the lump in her throat and slowly reciprocates the other girl's gesture.

_Body Language_ is truly fascinating, but right at this point in both girls' lives, it's officially the most complex thing in the world of communication.

"What are you staring at" or simply "what" would have just done the trick. However, no matter how many fitting words there are for this particular situation – that probably anybody else in their predicament could have thought of – the only sets of words that formed in their heads were their own twisted labels for the other.

Right this moment, _Brazilian Brewery_ and _The Hybrid_ just makes so much more sense than "Jade" or "Tori" could ever do.

'Uh—your hand,' Tori struggles for the right words and to both their relief, Jade thought faster.

'CUT!' she screams, making Tori snap her attention back to Daphne and Cat, who were both staring at them expectantly.

'We finished about two minutes ago,' Cat points out.

/

/

/

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Hey guys. I wish I could write longer but it would be out of the entire concept of the chapter so I'll have to move the whole awkward stage to an entirely different chapter. Thanks for continuing to read. **I LOVE YOU ALL DEARLY!**

DramaHunny101  
>True! This pairing is just out of words fun and complex both to write and read. Thanks so much for reviewing but most of all, for reading. It means so much to me.<p>

fruitloopsmademegay  
>And continue it I shall, I shall copy your review in a post it and slap it to my bedside wall. thanks so much!<p>

xXLordOfInglipsXx  
>Thank you! and sorry for the late post.<p>

Black-Love-With-M.M  
>Glad you liked it. I did have fun writing that chapter. I hope you'd like this as much.<p>

BabyDavid  
>Thank you so, so much for appreciating the story. I give every chapter my whole concentration. I write for many reasons and among them is you, my readers', and the love.<p>

AlphaTeam101  
>Thank you so much Alpha. I'm glad you see how the cogs of this story, it's one of the reasons I give so much effort in writing each chapter. And I totally loved the game analogy for I am honestly a game-addict myself. Role Playing Games to be exact. In fact, I came into writing because of the Final Fantasy games. Anyway, it would really be an honor if I have you read until the end of this story.<p>

ChaseLehrman  
>To be honest, the first time I played the game with my friends, I was the one who had the least things guessed. Because you are supposed to reveal after the time span of the entire game. But anyway, I am deeply relieved and thankful that you find them in character, it's hard work really. And all this pay off with these kinds of reviews. thanks so much!<p>

AliasSpyCrazy  
>Haha, to be honest, this game just knocked the noodles out of me the first time I played it as I mentioned in my shout-out for ChaseLehrman. But thanks for reading and reviewing, my friend. I hope I see your name 'til the end, that will make me feel truly honored as well.<p>

bandgrad2008  
>Ahehehe. I updated, but not as fast though. I am sincerely thankful that you appreciate the story. Thanks again so much!<p>

Dani2606  
>Ugh, I hate homework too. They're the whole reason I couldn't update as early as intended. ahaha. Excuses. Anyway, I do apologize for the long wait. There aren't as much moments in this chapter like the previous but I just tried to make them a little deeper. Oh and there's this really cute video on YouTube now that just embodied their bickering – I think it's Victim of Love or something.<p>

Thanks again for reading and reviewing. I'm glad I saw your name here again and I wasn't in anyway not brought to smiles by your review. I don't really mind how you write it, as long as its from the heart.

Little Miss Charlie A  
>Thank you, thank you, ma'am. You remain a guest in this corner in cyberspace.<p>

Project Heeee  
>Oh gosh, I do hope I don't give you hypertensions. If anything, <em>you <em>warm my heart with the reviews and they really show how you understand the heart and the nooks and crannies of my story. I'm just very glad that you "get it". I have always treated my writing as an art, and at this instance, I hope I made you equally appreciate my work. I write for you people and all the hard work I put into it is for you. Haha, perhaps, this is just as dramatic as your review.


	6. Part 2: She is Scarlett

**Disclaimer: Dan's the genius behind Victorious and I'm the fan who writes mere "fiction" about it. Clearly, ownership is not on my end of the context.**

**A/N: I apologize in advance for any typos or grammatical errors that escaped my sight. The summer job thing has been hectic lately.**

* * *

><p><strong>II<strong>

**Somewhere in the Middle**

.

.

_She is Scarlett_

.

.

This world is dynamic. Of course, unless you happen to exist in a void that not even the entirety that is the universe engulfs, then you can consider yourself stagnant without anyone trying to debate you about it—

'_Achoo!_'

Everything is bound to evolve and there are several circumstances to evolution. These circumstances can be categorized into many different things, but could probably be generalized as that contradiction that leads, pulls the strings behind the climax—

'_ACHOO!_'

All things – from miniscule to large-scale, from tangible to abstract – have their ambiguities to handle, and when these flaws are handled, comes development—

'_AACHOO!_'

Perhaps, _all_ things – even a person's interaction with the other. Or an obnoxious _disease_.

'Oh, _why_?' Tori hisses as she blows her nose for about the hundredth time this day.

She caught a nasty cold three days after their first casting _attempt_. It wasn't a very productive _attempt_ either. If there was one thing Tori gained from that ruckus, that would be seconds negative to the span of time she could stare into Jade West's eyes. Well, after Daphne's audition, the youngest Vega found herself unable to look into Jade's eyes without—um, actually she hasn't looked into them since.

Tori picked the dining table earlier as her headquarters for her homework and her silly attempts to recovering from the bug she caught. She isn't perfect like people, who don't really know her, think she is. Nope. She's not, which should probably be the reason why she insists on downing bowls of chicken soup instead of those fast-effect pills.

After another sip from the cup-sized bowl of the said soup, she instantly places her hands on her mouth, preparing for another sneeze coming on.

'You should—' Trina would have nagged the shit out of her sister in a single sentence but she was cut-off by another loud sneeze that must've rocked the younger Vega's entire body.

'Yeah?' Tori, in her croaky voice, asks, looking lazily up at her elder sister as she did.

'I said. You. Should—' and there was another sneeze.

Trina inhales sharply and freezes momentarily. She blinks a few times as she stares at her now Rudolph-nosed sister. Seeing that no sneeze came on, she opens her mouth to nag Tori.

But then, comes another sneeze.

Tori suddenly finds herself enjoying her predicament for the first time this day as she looks up at her sister with a goofy smirk. She laughs, still in her husky voice, and reaches for her supposed remedy to take another sip, when Trina places a hand on her sister's. The older Vega daughter brings both their hands back to the table rather harshly, making the small ceramic bowl clatter on the table.

'Lay off the soup!' Trina shouts.

'No!' Tori retorts, cupping the bowl with both hands protectively like it's the most precious thing in the world. 'It's my cure.' She adds with a small pout, looking at her sepia reflection on the liquid.

'Yeah, cure from wellness,' Trina says, rolling her eyes.

Tori twirls the cup a little, making the soup whip lightly. Her brow furrows briefly but immediately relaxes as she looks at the surface of _the cure_ ripple. She sighs.

Something spoke to her – telling her that she's been bothered by ripples as well. These tiny little evidences of motion aren't like ocean waves that just seem to keep coming; they will stop at one point and wouldn't bother the calm surface until the cup would be shook again. She thought of the last time she felt calm, it wasn't anytime recent.

'We have a medicine cabinet, you know,' Trina reminds her, walking to the kitchen and opening the fridge for something to eat – or maybe apply on her face. 'You really should consider changing your practices before that turns into a cold.'

Tori looks up from the cup with an expression that bore an unripe realization. Maybe the cold managed to block her brain as well – apart from her sinuses, that is. She pulls out a tissue from the box in front of her and blows her nose, half-expecting this to help her grasp the idea in her head.

Well, it didn't. But it, at least, makes her realize her need to ask her sister about her previous statement.

'What was that you said Trina?'

Trina looks at her sister like she was just about the only person born stupid in this planet. She closes the fridge, after successfully pulling out sandwich ingredients, which Tori finally thought she'd eat – unless ham, cheese and lettuce had been discovered to tighten pores if slapped on the face.

'I said,' she began, 'go grab a flu-tablet before that turns nastier than it already is.'

The younger Vega narrows her eyes at her sister as if further analysis would be on her face. Then she smiles for two reasons: one, Trina actually made her realize something important – there might be a better approach to bugs other than the one you're used to; she just had to find the right bug to find the right cure. Her eyes fell on her Pear Phone for a second. Two, a sneeze was coming on and Trina will be pissed-off over the next thing she'd be doing.

'Come again?' Tori asks as _innocently_ as she could.

Trina groans—growls—audibly, looks up from the sandwich she was preparing and opens her mouth to speak. 'I SAID—'

Then comes a sneeze – immediately followed by a fit of croaky laughter.

'TORIIIII!'

Maybe Jade West, from the passenger seat of Beck's car, heard Trina screaming the name of the person who had been bothering her to the end of her wits. Or maybe, Tori Vega might actually be the most disturbing thing in her mind right now.

Yeah. Not talking zombies, not the moving plastic babies, not the fly infested carcass of someone previously important. Just Tori Vega.

She sighs and grips her Pear Phone a little tighter than she should.

'Babe?'

Jade doesn't even look at Beck; she just stared straight ahead.

'We're here.' Beck says, sounding more concerned now.

'Yeah,' she says through a sigh. She pushes the door open and just before she could get out, her boyfriend holds her wrist.

'What's wrong?'

He looks at Jade, brows almost furrowing.

'Just a headache,' Jade lies. She was a pretty good liar.

Well. Until Tori Vega.

She finally steps out of the car, half-hoping the darkness of the West household's driveway would shadow how bothered she actually was.

'Okay,' Beck answers. 'If there is anything you want to talk about you can always call me.'

'Right,' Jade leans forward and kisses him lightly. 'Night, babe.'

Beck nods slightly and smiles at his girlfriend as she shuts the door close and waves him a goodbye.

As soon as Beck's car disappears from her driveway, her eyes immediately fell on the screen of her phone. If Pear Phones could ever feel _SMS-less_, she wouldn't be surprised to find the black communicating device in a corner in her room in the morning – not a bar; it's tragically underage since it's but a year old.

She walks toward their front door – probably slower than what boredom could ever allow her to. And when she finally touches the door knob, her phone's message alert tone went-off.

Jade West practically throws her purse and keys off as she fumbles to check who sent the message, almost dropping her phone in the process.

'_Behind you.'_

At the sight of _The Hybrid_ above the two simple words inside the little round-cornered rectangle at the center of her phone, she brightens. She gathers the stuff she had dropped earlier with her free hand, while she used the other to construct a reply - all the while, fighting a grin that is obviously winning.

Before she could finish, another talk bubble appeared on the left side of her phone.

'_Oops! Wrong person,' _appeared – followed by that tiny yellow emoticon that stuck its tongue out.

She shook her head. That little smile is undeniable now.

Tori Vega never did this before; it was Jade West who usually sent the first message. Perhaps, this is why Jade West pockets her phone and suddenly decides that taking the back door would probably make her feel better.

Like Tori, she felt the need to try something different.

/

/

/

Sometimes though, when you begin to think that you have just started to figure out one contradiction in your life, another would pop out of places and times you wish it wouldn't. And most of the time, these new contradictions bind more people than it seems to.

'What do you mean it's all finished?'

Cat Valentine has the attention span of a hamster. Nothing seems to bore her though; everything can either be very _exciting_ or _others – _all succeeding the word "very".

Which is why, at the mall, she finds herself feeling all guilty that the dress she was supposed to buy had been bought out to the very last one. What is even more frustrating about the situation is that she had seen at least five of the same design in the _SALE_ hamper earlier.

'But I just followed this kid with a really nice twirling shoe! And now it's all gone?'

She has this habit of rubbing at her fingers when she was feeling uneasy and right now, she was about to set her thumbs in flames.

The sales clerk looks at Cat weirdly from head to toe.

'So, this shoe,' she began, 'twirling, huh?'

'Well, yeah,' Cat responds, suddenly all smiley. 'It has this little top-like figure on the toe area and it twirled like a little swirly lollipop on a windmill!'

'Hm,' the sales clerk blinked a couple of times, convincing herself that Cat would go away if she blinked a little more. 'So, about the dress, delivery for the next batch would probably take another month and it wouldn't be on sale anymore.'

'Aw!' Cat is worried again in a matter of seconds and she went back to torturing her fingers.

She and Tori had seen that dress the other day and the half-Latina swore to return for it when she had enough money. She kept talking about it the entire night that followed, kept saying that it would be the perfect costume for the lead character. She was supposed to grab the dress herself this day, but she couldn't because of that nasty cold that Cat decided to name _Scarlett_.

Because of a shoe with twirling top-like swirly lollipops, Cat couldn't fulfill the favor she promised to do.

Tori, who was having this literally shaky relationship with _Scarlett_, isn't going to be very happy.

/

/

/

Plans can be very upsetting sometimes – especially if none of them fall into place or, if they do, just in wrong places.

Just like how somebody plans to finally be consistent with her attempt to abolish that _awkward_ space between her and someone – but that "someone" practically storms into the hall with a panicked redhead tailing her.

'But Tori!'

Jade immediately opens her locker door and hides her face behind it despite all the scissors dangling on it exposing who she actually is.

Cat and Tori stop a few feet across the hall from where the West girl stood.

'Cat! Please, I just don't want to talk about it anymore!' Tori says with her voice still husky. She had both hands covering her ears as she walked down the hall.

Jade looks around her locker for something to grab and pretend to be busying herself with, but all she had in front of her were black books and scissors. She growls to herself and pulls out her black Gardener's Shears and the text book on top of the stack of her school references.

'But Tori! I will make it up to you! I promise!'

Jade finds herself leaning towards the two girls' direction. It wasn't normal for them to bicker, but just what the heck does "_make it up to you" _means? She lifts the edge of the textbook she grabbed between the shears as she listened.

'Look, I was fine,' Tori began, raising a hand, looking momentarily calm. 'Until, two nights ago, you _offered yourself_—'

Now, Jade's hand fidgets, applying a little more pressure than intended on the shear handle, making her cut through the entire cover of the book.

'—and I _accepted_! What was I even thinking?' Tori continues, sounding ever so frustrated now.

Jade's eyes narrows, looking both frustrated and confused now. She tugs at about half the pages of the book rather harshly and places them between the shears.

'I really didn't mean to do this to you!' Cat whimpers. 'I just got distracted and then the next thing I know, _your dress was gone_!'

Jade almost chokes the air she just breathed in. Her grip on both book and scissors tighten, shredding even more of her Improvisation Text.

'Yes,' Tori says matter-of-factly. 'while you busied yourself with twirly-boot boy, I was at home, _waiting for you_, and.. Ugh! D_ressless_!'

That should have been the quota. The shears had slipped out of Jade's hand and it fell to the floor, making an audible clank.

Tori and Cat both turn their attention to the source of the sound. Jade freezes. She looks around for an excuse that might just be in her locker. To her fortune, the two girls that had been causing her torture for the last five minutes shrug the noise off.

'Listen, Cat,' Tori sighs, holding out a hand – an attempt to calm both Cat and herself. 'Okay, we can fix this sometime. Just, not now, okay?'

Cat doesn't answer. She stared directly at Tori with her lower lip slightly pouting. The youngest Vega, being herself, sighs one more time to rid her mind of her annoyance. She forces a smile at the redhead.

'I'm sorry,' Tori began, 'you went through enough already. I'll make it up to you at lunch time, alright? Ice cream?'

'Yay!' Cat suddenly tucks her pout in and practically squeezed the daylights out of Tori. 'I love you, Tori!'

Tori laughs and hugs the redhead back.

Behind her locker door, Jade is almost successful with drowning out the usual noise of Hollywood Arts hall, her brow furrows. She was almost immobile after her shears fell to the floor. _What to do?_

She pulls out her phone from her purse, taps on Messages, and just stares—not read—at the speech bubbles on Tori's side of the conversation they had last night. It comprised of bickering and getting on the other's nerves but it made her look forward to school today.

She scrolls randomly at different parts of the _conversation_ and ends up shoving her phone into her locker. She slams it close, huffing in the process.

'Careful there, Big Bad Jade,' says an all too familiar voice – only it's a little croaky at the moment. 'You don't want to blow your locker down.'

Jade doesn't scowl, groan, growl or does any of the usual reactions she used to offer the other girl. She just turns to stare back at the half-Latina, her brow almost drawing. The tanner girl picks up the nearly forgotten shears and hands it over to its owner.

Jade takes it, maintaining her blank expression. Tori looks back at her like she is being unusual.

'What's wrong?' she asks with a grin.

'Nothing.' Jade answers flatly, looking away.

'Well,' Tori shrugs, sounding almost disappointed. She looks down at the floor for a second before breathing in and forcing out a smile. 'Later then?'

Jade nods. Tori, feeling rather stupid now, walks past the paler girl.

As soon as the youngest Vega was past her shoulder, Jade quickly opens her locker and retrieves her phone. She runs her hand on the surface of the screen, searching for any cracks or chips.

Never had she cared for her cellphone, just now.

She taps on Messages and a sigh of relief escapes her lips upon seeing Tori's messages safe, undamaged, there.

Contradictions, huh. Plans should be equally persistent if one happened to be Jade West.

/

/

/

She really didn't want any more room for the spookiness she heard earlier. Certainly, this should be reason enough for Jade to find herself ringing the bell of the Vega household, by herself.

'Coming!'

Hearing how that response sounded more muffled than usual, that would most definitely be Tori running up to grab the door.

Jade breathes in just as the door opens.

Tori, hair tied in a messy pony tail, clad in an awfully loose black sweatshirt that read LAPD in huge yellow print, pajamas and furry bedroom slippers, stood there, looking rather confused after her momentary surprise.

'Jade,' she runs a hand over her face. 'It's—it's late.'

'I know,' Jade answers flatly, as usual. 'I'm getting in.'

Tori shrugs her shoulders and steps back to let Jade in.

Jade walks in and almost automatically plops on the couch.

'So,' Tori began, 'why are you here again?'

'To help you,' Jade replies, searching for the remote at the same time. As soon as she found it, she turns the television on, not minding how the audio practically blared across the supposedly quiet living room.

'_Help_ me?' Tori raises both eyebrows, 'you practically ignore me at school and now you want to help me? Okay, what's up, Jade?'

She doesn't answer, just flips through the channels.

Tori sighs and walks to the stairs. 'I'll go get my stuff.'

'About Cat—'

Tori stops at the foot of the stairs and turns to Jade. She had not turned from facing the television. The shorter girl could only see the back of the other's furtively distracted head.

'What about her?'

Now, Jade turns, looking Tori straight in the eye without any intention of turning away for the first time this day. She shrugs her shoulders, trying to appear nonchalant about the issue she decided to ask about.

'What's up with you two?' Jade asks.

Tori furrows her brow, thinking how weird this suddenly seemed.

'You know, earlier at school?'

'Oh,' Tori smiles, feeling silly. 'That. You heard that too? She's really such a kid, isn't she?'

_Kid._

Jade would have mocked Tori with her _Tori Voice_ right this moment because of the weird choice of terms, but then the thought that maybe she isn't on the same context as the half-Latina is, she held her tongue back. And blinks.

'It's silly really. She offered to get this dress that I really liked for Skye's character, but she got all distracted by these weird shoes that had twirling tops on the toes—'

Jade's hand goes to her forehead with a clear slap, making Tori stop mid-sentence.

'Uh, am I missing something?' Tori asks, her hands moving around in outward waving motions like it would help her find the right words.

'No, but I guess I did. This is embarrassing.' Jade says, drowning out the last sentence so Tori wouldn't hear.

Silence.

Tori shifts her weight from one foot to the other.

'Um, so I'll go get my stuff so we can work here.'

Just as Tori's foot touched the first step, Jade shuts the television off, making her stop yet again.

'No—'

'No?' Tori asks, confused.

'I'll go with you.'

With this, Jade stands up and strides towards and up the stairs – even walking past a silenced Tori. Well, she does know where the youngest Vega's room is.

'Wait—' Tori grabs Jade by the wrist.

She looks around, head tilted down a little, searching for the right words, the right excuse, but she couldn't. Perhaps, she doesn't even know what she wanted in the first place.

'What?'

Jade didn't sound annoyed. Most of the time, "_what" _is a snap or a hiss. But she sounded calm and collected, just simply asking.

'I'm sick,' is what Tori mustered as a response. 'I don't want you catching the virus.'

Jade remained silent, staring.

'I mean. It should be all over my room.'

'Cool.'

/

/

/

Tori should have understood that _"cool" _was really just a closing remark of some sort. Meaning, Jade was able to comprehend but it didn't mean she considered the suggestion.

That's why, after about a couple of hours, they are still at it – listing the needed equipment and going through the script page-by-page in order to pin every needed prop and costume. It was actually a nice thing to work with Jade; she always seemed to know what she was doing.

They were both seated on Tori's bed, a pile of papers, pens and markers separating them.

'One second,' Tori raises a hand to Jade, excusing herself from their current task.

She reaches for the tissue box and pulls out about three before blowing her nose in them. She must've done it a little graceless that Jade finally found that scowl she hadn't wore for this night yet. But really, it's just the mere presence of _Scarlett_ that annoyed her – Tori's constant excusing and sneezing; it disrupted the flow of the work their doing.

'Don't you take flu-tabs?'

'Ugh, I hate flu meds. I find the drowse very repulsive.'

Jade raises her brow at Tori's use of _hate _and _repulsive._ Maybe _Scarlett _is some sort of bitch in _Cold_ land – and an ultimate bitch at that, polluting Tori like this.

'It's a cold, Vega. Flu meds are supposed to address the issue.'

There are flu meds that prevent drowse nowadays.

But this fact isn't the reason why both girls suddenly fall silent. They didn't realize they skipped out on the above medical information just yet. They quiet down at two separate realizations.

Tori, from that moment at the stairs, knew she couldn't figure her issues with her interaction with Jade just yet – because, unlike her flu and the flu meds, she couldn't even point out what needed to be fixed.

She had initially thought that all these contradictions have stacked up. But at least, from tonight's events, she figured that there simply exists one solid ambiguity that complicated about everything else.

She licks her lips and looks down at the homework-related stuff distancing Jade from her. She had placed them there, on purpose. Jade's behavior tonight just isn't helping.

Jade, on the other hand, is more of the type to jump in if she is curious enough about something. Maybe she thinks faster than Tori, but at this point of the night, she is seriously considering a flu-med that could knock her to sleep in an instant – maybe because of that feeling that nearly pushed her to knock the materials between them away.

She brings her hand to the script page closest to her and Tori nearly backs away at this gesture but chose not to – because if she did, she'd be on the floor...hurt.

'Uh,' Tori sets the pen she was holding down and smiles awkwardly. 'We don't have school tomorrow but I'm tired.'

Jade shrugs. She merely stretches her legs and lies down on her side of the bed to Tori's dismay.

'Ah, right. You're the guest.' Tori says as she snaps her fingers, trying her best to appear cool about this. She takes one pillow and drops it on the floor. 'I'll take the floor then.'

_And she was the one with the cold._

/

/

/

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So I meant to finish this earlier, but the amount of work I have wouldn't let me. But because of my love for what I do, Jori and all my readers and reviewers, I tried my very best so I could make you happy with this.** **I hope you'd be.**

**DramaHunny101** Thank you, you are even more awesome for reviewing and reading most of all. I'm glad you loved it, but please don't die, you won't be able to see how Jori would come about. Haha.

**KMACMUZIKMAFIA or AQUARIUS121**  
>Ahaha. I won't tell but one day you'd find yourself screaming at the awesomeness that is JORI! Haha. Many thanks!<p>

**xXLordOfInglipsXx**  
>Thank you so much! I'm glad you thought it was worth calling beautiful.<p>

**elfspirit7**  
>Hehe. Hi. I updated. Just not sooner. Please don't hate me!<p>

**TCeeDub**  
>And you, my dear, made my heart smile (not in the weird way too). Thanks so much! I'm glad to see your name here. It genuinely made me happy.<p>

**AlphaTeam101**  
>Ahaha! I actually checked the video online because I am quite familiar with the song, just not the video. Oh and yeah, I do hate how all these responsibilities traffic my fanfiction life. Haha. Thanks again Alpha! OO,<p>

**fruitloopsmademegay**  
>Hmm. You know what? It would be really awesome if a Jori-er would get to write for the show. You know, go under cover. Whoever that person is, would have my dream job. But anyway, I thank you dearly and I am really, really happy that you "get" what I try to portray, it's very flattering really.<p>

**Dani2606**  
>I put a little more stuff that I hope you'd equally like. Thank you so much dear. I try to play between vague and specific. Ugh. Hard to describe but I'm really happy that you grasp several ideas that I throw in. I'm really glad that you are among those that read my work.<p>

**professor lazyass**  
>Oh my God. You are THE professor lazyass. I'm a fan. I have read and reviewed your work. Although I used a different alias. Hehe. If you get curious just ask me, but I'll have to send my answer in PM. Really, I'm a huge, HUGE fan and a review coming from you made me truly, truly happy and even more inspired to do better. I will try my best to be able to establish this story.<p>

"_"

Thanks so much! I hope you like this chapter as much.

**BrainLapse**  
>Wow. You had me reach for that spot at the back of my head that feels tingly when I'm suddenly all shy. Really, it sounds weird but I do that in real life. Thanks so much for the awesome review. I hope I didn't disappoint you with this chapter.<p>

**Project Heeee**  
>haha, dear, it wasn't weird at all. Like I said before, no matter how you write it, as long as the review is from your heart, you'll make me very happy. But seriously, having you read this is soooo much happiness for me already.<p>

**bandgrad2008**  
>I'm glad that you love it. But I do hope I keep up with your expectations. I love what I do but I love it more when Jori lovers, such as yourself, love my work.<p>

**Black-Love-With-M.M**  
>Thank you dear! I hope you loved this too.<p>

**ChaseLehrman**  
>Thank you dear. And about the "tease", it's something I love about Jori but like I said in the first chapter, I will try to develop these two's relationship – as plausible as I could. Again, thank you for appreciating my work.<p>

**MusicNinja1010**  
>That is so true. They are just so irresistible, aren't they? And again, I agree, there should be more Jori fics! Thanks for reading and reviewing dear.<p> 


	7. Part 2: Tori, My Wifey

**A/N: and so, I believe I'm back after a long hiatus. I have a really good excuse. The only computer in my place busted itself up, so I had to do the chapter I had written halfway over and wait practically a month just to get a new computer. Good news is, it's a laptop. Therefore, I can write whenever I want now. Yay. World is lovable.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious.**

* * *

><p><strong>II<strong>

**Somewhere in the Middle**

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_Tori, My Wifey_

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Lose. Loss. Losing. Lost.

These words are commonly associated to defeat – whether one is just about to lose, is losing, has lost or is just plainly, simply _lost_. Apart from tenses though, the implications of these four words vary by context as well; one can lose something as concrete as a wallet, as abstract as comfort, as common as direction or as basic as oneself.

It isn't an everyday thing for Tori Vega to catch an obnoxious cold, then be forced to sleep on the floor, and – most importantly – lose her mind in the middle of the night. But in Jade West's presence, things just seem to spike to the most complicated situations no matter how simple they seem.

Well. It's not _that_ simple really – tonight, that is.

Tori's right eye finally twitched at about the third thud she heard today. She initially told herself to keep her cool. The first book that fell to the floor must have been an accident, but the second _just had_ to fall right after Jade sniggered.

This is another one of Jade's games. And according to popular belief, every game has to have a winner and the _wiener_.

Tori grunts as she pushed the two text books away from her already cramp and uncomfortable space. She decides that she isn't going to lose to Jade, at least that's what she told herself until the third book.

This is probably the loudest thud tonight, Tori thought, for it happened to land much closer to her head. Her eyes widened at the hardbound book, which is now barely an inch away from her face. She blinks, trying to "uncross" her eyes from the focus on the edge text, the title.

Tori finds herself gritting her teeth. Earlier, she took sheets with her as her makeshift bed and, at the moment, she is tugging at them a little too tightly to try and keep herself sane.

To seal her attempts to calm down, she breathes in. Although, she must have done it a little too deeper than necessary that she coughs in an instant, shooting out the dust that she almost brought to her lungs.

Even before she could recover, the fourth book immediately stole the third one's record as the "Book with the Loudest Thud". This shouldn't cause that much confusion for it landed right on Tori's head.

The half-Latina grunts as she rubs her head both in pain and irritation. She sits up to find Jade looking straight at her, elbow propped on the pillow, chin resting on her palm and – of course – lips curled into a sneer.

'You,' Tori begins, taking a deep breath and flailing her hands in frustration, 'are impossible!'

'I'm quite aware of that,' Jade answers – then casually scrutinizes her nails.

'Is there anything you want to say?' Tori raises an eyebrow and keeps it up, waiting for Jade to say something, '_Sorry, Tori_? _Didn't mean it, Vega?_'

Instead of saying an apology, Jade yawns and turns her back to Tori. She stretches and sighs contentedly as she settles herself probably a little too comfortably in the sheets and pillows.

The game isn't over. Apart from the materials still on the bed, none of the key players are asleep. Although on the precipice of defeat, Team Tori decides to take a stronger defensive stance from its previous passive one.

Tori's eyes narrow dangerously. She looks from Jade's now motionless form to the remaining books, pencils, papers and markers.

'Not done with your little _Angry Tori's_ game, huh?' Tori mutters rapidly as she stands up and begins pushing the materials off the mattress, down to the foot of her bed. 'Let's see if you'll have any more _birds_ to pelt me with!'

After successfully wiping her bed free of suddenly obnoxious school supplies, Tori huffs, chin proudly raised, hands on hips. She waits for Jade to move, but the other girl doesn't – her back is still turned to her.

Tori, still huffing, slumps back down to her _very comfortable _bed and soundly lands on her pillow. She hisses at the now pounding pain on her head and right shoulder, regretting that she decided to have her back turned only to have her pain doubled too.

That shoulder she lay on is, without doubt, in pain. But the youngest Vega refused to turn and rub it. The game is still on after all. She can't let Jade win now that the odds stacked up on her side. She holds back another hiss as she discreetly rubbed the side of her head instead.

At this point, Tori already believes that Jade would find a way to annoy her – maybe find something else to "pelt" her with. This is Jade that's being talked about after all.

So she expects it, waiting, assuming, ready.

But she doesn't get it.

Instead, 'Goodnight, Tori,' is what she got.

Tori's mind goes from fuming to blank.

If "loss" meant losing something, then Tori is indeed on the losing side at this point. Just moments before Jade decided to wish her good night, she was trying her best not to lose herself. But she did lose something in this case – her anger has completely dissipated, replaced by _raw _confusion.

She shifts where she lay, trying to make sense of what Jade had said, making sure she did hear a "goodnight" – thoughts that are immediately answered by the obvious shifting in her bed where Jade lay.

Tori finally turns around to see Jade, who is now at the edge of the bed – peeking, looking at her with an almost unnoticeable smile.

'Goodnight, Tori,' Jade repeats.

Tori, still essentially surprised, nods slowly and awkwardly, 'Goodnight, Jade.'

They stare at each other for nearly a minute, until Jade finally turns away - a gesture mirrored by the girl bunked on the floor.

Jade is obviously among those people who found winning of great importance. But tonight, she actually admits losing the game as she sighs and thinks over her choice to just give-up and say the word that she had been itching to say since she stepped into the Vega household.

And that word isn't _goodnight_.

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Tam Jerry is about thirty-five years old. But during her years of living (not that she's dead), never had she felt that she was really victorious. Sure, there were a couple of times that she felt happiness by essence, but NEVER did she actually feel that she was happy.

Maybe because she thought she had lost battles countless times.

One of these battles was the game of luck.

Earlier this week, she met the oddest pair composed of a bubbly redhead and a taller, tanner halfy. The duo stopped at her section of the department store and scrutinized one particular dress design.

One of the girls promised herself to come back for the dress, but Tam was worried she wouldn't find any more of the dress design if they didn't buy it soon. After all, the dress was eight dresses from selling out.

Tam sighs – only with her lips parted as slightly as she could. She is a saleslady, she isn't meant to look uninviting.

'Good day. How may I help you?'

She smiles at a teenage girl she hopes is a customer, but for the eighth time this day, the youngster turns to the corner that led to the women's section.

Now, she sighs a little too obviously.

She had been feeling pretty off since the day after she met the aforementioned duo. She had planned to sell the dress she tucked in a box under one of the display tables to the Latina half of the pair. To her misfortune, she was assigned to man the eyewear section for nearly a week, making her miss a chance to probably hand over the dress she reserved.

She impatiently fidgets with her hands behind her back and stretches her toes underneath the tips of her shoes.

'And why should I be listening to you _again_?'

Tam's head whips to the left where the voice came from. _That_ voice is either unmistakably familiar or she is just being unnecessarily hopeful.

In an instant, the saleslady's eyes brightened. It _is_ the girl from last time – only she is with someone different – nope, not the redhead.

'Because I know better, Vega,' says the girl she hadn't seen before.

'You know,' the half-Latina sighs, exasperated 'I could've just done this myself. No one forced you to come with me! I didn't even ask!'

'I came here because I want to,' the other girl replies casually as she practically drags the familiar one toward the eyewear section.

Tam is definitely happy right now.

'A non-hideous frame for this one,' the paler, taller girl points her thumb to her right, where the more familiar girl stood.

Tam ends up blinking several times.

'_**I want to pick a shirt that won't make you hideous!'**_

'_**But Tammy.'**_

'_**Shush.'**_

About five years ago, no matter how she hated doing things for other people, her late husband made her different, made her lose to a humbler version of her. But she hated losing nonetheless, so she would treat him ill if she had to do good things for him.

'Did you hear me?' the paler half of the couple asks again.

'Yes.' Tam's formerly flashy smile slowly softens in her sudden nostalgia. 'Do you want me to pick for Miss…'

'Her name's Tori.'

'Tori,' Tam smiles at Tori, takes the time to scan her features and brought her attention to the selection of frames underneath the glass table before her. 'That's a nice name. Is it Victoria?'

'Yes, it is,' Tori returns Tam's smile. 'Thank you—'

'—and I'm Jade,' the other girl says rather suddenly, almost in an interfering manner.

Maybe others would find this weird, but Tam could have reached for that part of her chest just above her heart – there's a heavy feeling growing there.

'_**Here's the white shirt for the gentleman.'**_

'_**You can call me John,' Tam's husband said sweetly at the short blonde girl handing him a white, long-sleeved shirt.**_

'_**I'm the wife, Tam! I think I'll take it from here,' Tam practically seizes the shirt from the saleslady's hands and even raised an eyebrow at her. 'This is the shirt? Thank you.'**_

Jealousy isn't a difficult thing to notice, of course, unless you are the one experiencing it. Most of the time, people would find themselves too proud to admit that they actually longed for the attention of someone. This is one thing Tam wished she had lost, banished and suppressed before her husband died.

Because she hadn't, she lost so much more than she could have not.

Tam sighs, trying to get rid of the bubbling pain in her heart. She opened her eyes a little more to let the threatening steaming in her eyes dissipate. Of course, at the moment, scanning the eyewear is just timely.

'I think red, thin and subtle will look good on her,' Tam manages to say without breaking. She picks out a deep red frame from the lot. It is thick around the holders but very thin around the rims. The emotionally wounded saleslady almost wonders if she picked it out to represent the irony of her life. 'This would look excellent on her.'

Tam notices Jade shift her weight from one foot to the other and raise both her chin and an eyebrow. She hands the pair of glasses to Tori anyway and points the long mirror standing a few feet from them.

'Mirror's over there, Tori.'

Tori walks over to the mirror, spectacles in hand. Jade slightly turns a foot to follow when Tam grabs her around the wrist.

'I have something with me that will make her happy,' Tam finally says. 'It's not for free but you can buy it for her.'

'_I am_ paying for it?' Jade asks, emphasizing "I".

'_**Are you paying for this, hon?' John asked as he looked at his reflection.**_

'_**Are you kidding?' Tam said casually, almost shaking her head and rolling her eyes. 'Of course not.'**_

'_**But I thought—'**_

'_**I'm going to stop you right there, hon,' Tam interfered, emphasizing "hon". 'That was called jealousy if you don't do your research.'**_

'You'll make your wife really happy,' Tam insists.

Jade's eyes widen, her expression almost breaking into smirk. 'Wife?'

'I'm sorry,' Tam shakes her head in embarrassment. 'I thought you were—'

'No, no—' Jade is definitely smirking now. 'Will you help me pay for it if it would really make my _wife_ happy? 'Cause you know, I didn't bring much with me today. It will be kind of embarrassing.'

"Wife" was almost unnecessarily emphasized then.

'No—definitely not a problem, I mean!' Tam felt that pain in her chest rise to a less-painful part of her. 'I can help you. No matter how much.'

'Thank you,' Jade put on a pout and a very thankful expression on her face that would've counted as disgusting if it were Tori she spoke with.

Tam always hated losing to other people, even in the simplest arguments and bickering-games, but right this moment, she knew she had lost to something and the feeling compared to nothing in the world – she finally lost to that nicer part of her without John being there and she felt happy.

Maybe John would be smiling at her right now, and not the kind of smile that Jade had on right this very moment.

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'It's just insane, don't you think?'

Tori had been rambling about how coincidence was the most amazing thing that happened to her life earlier this morning. Jade could care less. She kept a straight face at the girl as she dipped a fry in her milkshake, imitating what Tori was doing as she babbled on.

'Not bad,' Jade says as her head bobs lightly in approval. 'Who taught you this?'

Tori sighs and shakes her head as she finally noticed that Jade wasn't really into the conversation. Well, it wasn't a conversation _per se_; she was the only one talking after all.

Earlier, they made rounds around the department store after Jade got her hands on the dress that Tori wanted badly and handed it to the Latina, who almost jumped about after that. Of course, Jade didn't mention anything about how she managed to get the dress.

'My grandfather did,' Tori answers as she dips another fry in her own milkshake and chows. 'He taught showed me when I was eight, I think.'

Eating at Shakey Joe's was Tori's thanks, and here they were. Certainly, Jade sneered when she was brought into the diner-inspired part of the mall but because this was Tori bringing her in an establishment like this, there are always "but's" that not even her could touch.

'Interesting,' in a Tori perspective, that would sound sarcastic, but Jade doesn't mean to sometimes.

'Ugh,' Tori groans and finally decides to look elsewhere.

And "elsewhere" is a woman, who happened to be the saleslady at the eyewear store earlier. She had a smile-smirk on as she looked their way.

Tori's eyebrows raise both in confusion and discomfort. Her head tilts closer to Jade and whispers, 'Jade, I think there's someone smiling at us.'

'It's creepy,' she adds in a hushed tone that was anything but discreet. It was voiceless, because eighty percent was just air than words.

Jade raises her head to see Tam now walking over to them.

'Now she's walking to us,' Tori, again, adds – in the same tone she used earlier.

'You think I can't see that?' Jade says. She wouldn't deny that she is beginning to feel a hint of panic somewhere in her chest.

'Hi,' Tam greets as she stood across the table from them. 'I'm Tam. From earlier?'

'Oh!' Tori playfully slaps her own forehead. 'Yeah, why? What is it?'

'Nothing really,' Tam answers, 'I was on my way to get lunch and I saw you two. It's a really happy thing, you two.'

'Uh.' Tori's brows knitted in confusion, while Jade's rose in alarm.

'Anyway, I'll be going now,' Tam offers them a warmer smile this time. 'You should keep each other happy and don't forget that the best thing you'll ever have is each other.'

'I'm not getting—' Tori nearly laughed to show how confusing things were getting for her, when Jade, whose eyes briefly widened in panic, suddenly kisses her on the cheek.

'—getting the ketchup,' Jade finishes the sentence. 'You're not getting the ketchup, right Tor—I mean—_wifey_?'

Knitted brows and a twitching right eye is what Jade gets in response.

Jade forces out a smile that only made her look like she is showing her teeth. 'I'll get it for you then. And you were going somewhere, right Tam? You don't want your lunch break to go by now, right?'

'Ah! Yeah,' Tam answers in a "silly me" tone and turns and walks out Shakey Joe's chuckling.

Jade chuckles with the saleslady – even after she got out of the establishment.

Moments of silence. Jade refused to look Tori's way. Then,

'_Wife?_' Tori asks sharply.

'You know, emotional women, discounts,' Jade says like Tori should have known these.

Tori kept her stare—glare.

'_Wifey_?' She adds, still sounding the same way she sounded with "wife".

Jade shrugs her shoulders. She picks up a fry, dips it in the shake closest to Tori and holds it a few inches from Tori's mouth.

'Say "ah", _Wifey_,' she smirks.

Tori's eye twitches again. She slaps the fry out of Jade's hand.

They held each other's stare for a couple more minutes. Tori may be fuming and Jade may be trying to get into the half-Latina's nerves, but they both learned two facts about losing in this very moment – that losing staring games is actually very easy to do, and second, something as cheesy as getting lost in someone's eyes may be possible.

Slowly, Tori's stern expression broke into a smirk and a minute later, they both began laughing.

Something had to be done; else they'd both lose to very unfamiliar grounds.

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><p><strong>AN: BOO! I'm back. I'm really sorry again for this late update. From reader to reviewer, I love you all and I hope you like this update. I promise I'll try my best to do better on the next update. This is sort of an escalation point.  
><strong>


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